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COMET
The World's First Jet Airliner
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 ET
The World's First Jet Airliner

by R.E. G. Davies and Philip J. Birtles

Illustrated ~V Mike Machat

~I
 This book is dedicated to the determined team
of pioneer designers and engineers
who created the world's first jet airliner.

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1999 R.E.G. Davies and Philip J. Birtles

All rights reserved. No part of this publication, including photographs, maps, and artwork, may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of Paladwr Press.

Published by Paladwr Press, 1906 Wilson Lane, # 10 1, Mclean, Virginia 22102-1957, USA

Manufactured in Hong Kong

Book Design by R.E.G. Davies

Artwork by Mike Machat

Maps by R.E.G. Davies

Typesetting/Layout by Spot Color Incorporated, Virginia

Prepress and press management by The Drawing Board

ISBN 1-888962-14-3

First Edition
Contents
Foreword Author's Preface & Introduction .. 6-7 Comet 3 Almost a Breakthrough 36-37

by John Cunningham First Trans-Atlantic Jet B.O.A.C Comet 4 38-39

Abandoned Hopes The Brabazon Committee 8-9 Aerolineas Argentinas Comet 4 Mexicana Comet 4C 40-41

Trans-Atlantic Mailplane Swept Wing 10-1 1 B.OAC. Comets Span the World East African Airways Comet 4 42-43

The Great Team Early Experiments 12-13 Short Haul Comet B.E.A. Comet 4B 44-45

Visionary Design Advanced Manufacturing 14-15 Olympic Airways Comet 4B U.A.A. Comet 4C 46-47

De Havilland Ghost Dramatic Debut 16-17 Middle East Airlines Comet 4C Sudan Airways Comet 4C 48-49

Test Flights The New Vision 18-19 World's First Executive Jet Kuwait Airways Comet 4C 50-51

B.O.A.C Makes History B.O.A.C DH 106 Comet 1 20-21 Malaysian Airways Comet 4 Soldiering On 52-53

World's First Jet Airline Network U.A.T. (Aeromaritime) Comet 1A 22-23 The Biggest Fleet Dan-Air Comet 4 Series 54-55

Elegance Aloft Air France Comet 1A 24-25 Last of the Air Force Comets Canopus 56-57
The Comet Sets the Pace Air Force Involvement. 26-27 The Mighty Hunter Nimrod 58-59

Disaster Salvage 28-29 Cold War Duty Nimrod 2000 60-61

Structural Challenge Metal Fatigue 30-31 The Legacy D.H. Dynasty 62-63

Rolls Royce Avon Comet 2 Series 32-33 Index 64

The Comet Flies On What Might Have Been 34-35

5
Foreword by John Cunningham
Ron Davies and Philip Birtles have produced a detailed
record of the devefopment and production of the de Hav-
illand Comet, the world's first jet airliner. It is now 50
years since the Comet 1 first took off and the event was
probably the biggest single step forward that the world
has seen in airline comfort and speed.
The foresight and courage of the de Havilland com-
pany and its designers were the inspiration of an aero-
nautical breakthrough that was eventually to lead to the
advent of the commercial jet airliner.
I had the privilege to be part of this dramatic
episode of aviation history. From 1935 to 1938 I had
had three years of technical training at the de Havilland
Technical School and I flew as the fourth junior test pilot
with the company from 1938 until I was mobilized into
the Royal Air Force in August 1939, at the outbreak of
the Second World War.
At that time, incidentally, numbers 1, 2, and 3 of the
D.H. Test pilot team were "young" Geoffrey de Havil-
land, George Gibbins, and Guy Tucker, respectively. My
main work then was in the development of the D.H. 94
Moth Minor. I had already got to know Ron Bishop,
Richard Clarkson, and Bill Tamblin, amongst others,
during the 1930s; and I flew at weekends at R.A.F.
Hendon, after joining the Auxiliary Air Force in 1935.
After demobilization (as a Group Captain) in Decem-
ber 1945, I rejoined de Havilland and took charge of the
D.H. Engine Company's flying tests and was mainly con-
cerned with the development of Frank Halford's Goblin jet
engine. Meanwhile, Geoffrey de Havilland was doing the
development flying in the D.H.108 high-speed tail-less
research aircraft, but was tragically killed in September
1946. Sir Geoffrey asked me to take over the responsi-
bility for all the test flying at Hatfield.
By this time, the proposals and plans to build the
D.H.1 06-the Comet-were well under way, so that my
ma inactivities were concerned with preparations for
flying and subsequent f1tght development of that aircraft.
Alan Campbell-Orde, B.O.A.C.'s director in charge of
6
aircraft procurement, arranged for me to gain experience
on the Constellation 049, which the airline was operating
across the Atlantic. Up until then, my wartime experience
had not included any transport aircraft operations.
Towards the end of 1946, I spent a month in Canada at
B.O.A.C.'s Constellation base at Dorval Airport, Mon-
treal, and also did some trans-Atlantic flying. In the fol-
lowing year, I did a long flight to Sydney, Australia, in the
right-hand seat, to become more familiar with airline pro-
cedures, cabin practices, and discipline.
On 27 July 1949, the Comet was presented to me
for flying. Before making that epoch-making first flight, I
insisted that, in the morning,J did three "hops" to test the
elevator, aileron, and rudder controls for satisfactory
response. That series of tests concluded successfully, the
D.H. 106 experimental shop chief inspector wished to John Cunningham climbs aboard the Ghost-powered Vampire
put the aircraft up on jacks to satisfy himself that the which was used for high altitude testing of the Ghost engine for
undercarriage (still only two big single wheels) had been the Comet. (DH photo]
able to sustain the loads adequately.
At about 5 p.m. he told me that I could have the air-
craft. The weather was fine and at 6 o'clock we took off.
The flight lasted about 35 minutes and confirmed all the
new features that had been combined in our experience
during the previous development work: Ghost engine per-
formance, speed characteristics, and full power controls.
We landed without any problems. Together with
John Wilson, my co-pilot; Tony Fairbrother, flight test
observer; Frank Reynolds, largely responsible for the
hydraulics; and Tubby Waters, who was responsible for
the electrics, I had made the first Comet take-off.
At this stage, I hand over to the authors of this book,
which in a sense, also takes off, to embellish and con-
tinue my story. It pays full tribute to one of the most sig-
nificant aeroplanes in the entire history of commercial air
transport.
John Cunningham
Kinsbourne Green
John Cunningham in the cockpit of Comet 4C Canopus during its
22 February 1999
last operational flight on 14 March 1997. This was the world's
last flying Comet. (DERA colour photo]
Authors' Preface & Introduction
Authors
In the late summer of 1949, along with about 80,000 other spectators at the
annual Farnborough Air Show, I watched the demonstrotion of a new air-
liner. Its performance was electrifying. Its high-speed run and display
matched those of the latest fighters. I shored with the rest of the spectators an
excited pride that the de Havilland Comet had projected Britain into world
leadership. AI that time, I was an interested observer while working for Peter
Masefield at the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Ten years later, after spells with
Masefield at B.EA and Bristol, I joined de Havilland and, in chorge of
Morket Research, was able to help in a small way to sell a Comet or two.
Fifty years later, that remarkable aeroplane is commemorated by a
new postage stamp. The U.K. Post Office chose the Comet (on the 20P
denomination) to represent one of Britain's greatest achievements during
Ihe current millienium.
No praise is too high for the team whose combined experience,
knowledge, intuition, foresight, and, above all, courage, produced the
world's first commercial jet airliner. This was, moreover, only four years after
the British aircraft industry had emerged from a crippling Second World
War, and had abandoned severo I promising airliner projects in 1939.
.> Often forgotten today is the mood of the aeronautical world at the
time. Contemporary skeptics were almost unanimous in asserting that jet
propulsion was ideal for mililary aircraft, but excessive and expensive
fuel consumption would rule out commercial applications_
De Havilland's faith proved them wrong. Much credit must be given
also to the launch customer, British Overseas Airways Corporation
(B.O.A.C.) the British state-owned airline which matched de Havilland's
faith with equally enthusiastic support. De Havilland and B.O.A.C.
together introduced jet travel 10 a hitherto sceptical world.
Sadly, the devastating crashes of 1954 set the project back by four
years, and allowed rival manufacturers to benefit from de Havillond's
enterprise. De Havilland had leaped boldly into the unknown realms of
seven-mile-high altitude flying, meeting operational phenomena which
were completely unknown at the time.
Counteracting that tragic episode were the Comet's numerous
achievements, invariably overlooked by so many aviation historians: high
fuel consumption compensated for by cheap price at the pumps; mainte-
nance requirements dramatically reduced because of the smoolh running
of the jet engines; considerably lengthened airframe lives. The Comet
demonstrated an efficient swept wing, a reliable jet engine, multiple-wheel
undercarriage, high-level pressurization, full power controls, and many
other related engineering advances. The entire aviation world was the
grateful beneficiary of D.H. enterprise.
Two years later, Aeroflol's Tupolev Tu-1 O~ began service in the
Soviel Union, and two years later still, Pan American put the Boeing 707
into service, just Ihreeweeks after the rejuvenated Camel 4. In the jet air-
liner race, de Havilland had been the pace-setter, faltering early, but
recovering bravely, to break the tope, as it were, in a trans-Atlantic photo-
finish. Douglas followed a full year later with the DC-8.
The de Havilland D.H.1 06 Comet has a place in aeronautical his-
tory that can never be emulated. Without ignoring the development prob-
lems-the awful penalty of being first-this book tries to do justice to the
memory of a tremendous technical achievement. Above all, it takes its hat
off to to Ihe design team, whose beautiful aeroplane could, dare I sug-
gest, be described as the result of collective genius.
R.E.G.Davies, Harpenden, 3 March 1999
My first memory of the Comet was shortly after I joined the de Hav-
illand Aeronautical Technical School-the famed "D.H.Tech."-at Hat-
field in September 1957. The first Comet 4 G-APDA for B.OAC. was
moved down the production line backwards, with its nose in the air, to
the high bay at the end of the Erecting Shop. It was taken up on its
maiden flight on one of the days when I was attending College, and we
were all trying to catch a glimpse of the aircraft from our lecture room.
During my training as an engineering apprentice, I was assigned
to the Comet Wing Shop, where my wark involved the installation of fuel
pipes through Ihe ribs and tank walls to the integral wing tanks. I had to
climb through the small underwing manholes, wriggle between sections
of removed ribs, dragging a lead lamp, tools, and the parts to be assem-
bled. In the enclosed space, heavy with sealant fumes, and lying on cor-
rugated cardboard, it was not difficult to doze off during the morning,
after a night out at the local pub.
My first flight in a Comet was one I managed to scrounge during
my apprenticeship. It was a 30-minute production test flight in the first 4B,
G-APMA, for B.EA in July 1959. It was captained by John Cunningham,
who was later to become my boss. On completion of my five years of
training as a mechanical and production engineer, I was fortunate
enough to join the Test Pilots' Department, as Personal Assistant to John,
who was D.H.'s Chief Test Pilot and Director. Among my early tasks was
to manage the operation of King Saud's luxury Comet 4C, SA-R-7, which
was tragically lost in the Alps near Cuneo.
While the Trident and the D.H. 125 were being developed in the
early 1960s, the last of the Comets were being produced at Hatfield and
Chester. One of these was for United Arab Airlines, and I flew from
Chester to Hatfield with Captain Shams, the chief pilot of the airline.
Once accepted, it was flown straight to Heathrow, where it collected a
load of passengers for the scheduled service to Cairo.
Among my interesting Comet flights was the retirement of Dan-Air's
Comet 4, G-APDB, from Lasham to Duxfard, in February 1974, and the
last operational flight of the last Comet, Canopus, XS235, from
Boscombe Down on 14 March 1997, which I was delighted to share
with John Cunningham.
My first publication was a Comet profile in 1966, and I have been
writing on aviation subjects ever since, including 20 books. I have
enjoyed working with Ron Davies, whose knowledge and experience of
de Havilland affairs seemed to compliment mine. His was in airline oper-
ations and economics, mine was in development and production.
We both hope to have learned a great deal from having written
and compiled this tribute to the world's first commercial jet airliner.
Philip J, Birtles, Stevenage, March 1999
Artist
In this first effort at a book for Paladwr Press highlighting a single air-
plane, I was most excited when Ron Davies informed me of the subject
matter. This represents something very special for me personally, as the
Comet was not only the very first jet airliner that I ever saw fly, but I was
there at New York's Idlewild Airport on the day when B.O.A.C. inaugu-
rated the world's first trans-Atlantic commercial jet service.
As a young lad growing up on Long Island during the 1950s, I
spent countless enjoyable hours atop every observalion deck available to
the enthusiast at New York's International Airport, and became enam-
ored with the airplanes that represented the zenith of the piston-engined
era. Douglas.,.oC-7Cs, Lockheed 1049G and 1649 Constellations,
Boeing Stratocruisers, and even the first turboprop Vickers Viscounts and
Bristol Britannias could be spotted as they parked at the gates of the
newly-built International Arrivals Building. Seeing and smelling that won-
derful white smoke as those radial engines started up was simply intoxi-
cating to this future aviation artist.
Then, on Saturday, October 4, 1958, something changed. For the
first time, the aroma of kerosene filled the air, and a stunning new air-
plane stood dramatically on the east ramp in front of Ihousands of
excited spectators on the observation deck. It was B.O.A.C's de Havil-
land Comet 4 which had just landed after a six-hour flight from London-
the world's first commercial jet service to New York. That sleek aircraft
could have just landed from Mars, as far as the crowd was concerned,
for it represented a visual image that said, "the future has arrived!" The
Comet's elegant and graceful lines were highlighled by its shiny metal
wings and belly, polished to a mirror finish and reflecting all the multi-eol-
ared ground equipment now nestled around her flanks.
Warm memories of that magnificent day permeated my studio as I
put the finishing touches on the profile drawing found on page 39 of this
book, for I have chosen "G-APDC," that actual airplane, as the subject
for Ron's chapter on the B.OAC. Comet 4. As always, I was amazed
to learn of the prominence of "Macha!'s Law" (the unpredictability of
color scheme variations) as I researched and produced the 26 profiles
seen herein. Some of the more interesling details can be found in the
artist's notes accompanying the various drawings. The Comet is a beau-
tiful airplane whose graceful lines are timeless, and it was an absolute
pleasure to draw. I hope you will enjoy reading this book as much as I
enjoyed illustrating it.
Mike Machat, Woodland Hills, February 1999
Acknowledgements
In compiling this historical record of an historic aeroplane, the authors
were fortunate to be able to draw inspiration and encouragement from
several of the key members of the remarkable Comet design team and
other de Havilland alumni who were closely associated with them. In
doing this, we were able to glean not only the authentic story, but also
10 share the spirit of the de Havilland company, one that cannot be
described in absolute lerms but can confidently be termed unique.
This book frequently echoes the Comet's special attributes that
were the subject of Mike Ramsden's keynote address at the 40th anniver-
sary celebration of the Hatfield branch of the Royal Aereonautical Soci-
ety on 15 March 1989. Mike emphasized the inspired intuition and
craftsmanship that transformed theory into hardware.
Ron Davies was privileged to work for, and subsequently to inter-
view Richard Clarkson, aerodynamicist extraordinary, and his closest
associates, John Wimpenny (stability and control), David Newman (per-
formance), and Ralph Hare, who worked with Bob Harper. Philip Birtles
was with John Cunningham for several years, and was fortunate to inherit
the impressive collection of Comet material and photographs from the
late Roger Lewis. Professor Arnold Hall's compr.ehensive report on the
Comet disasters of 1954 was an invaluable reference.
John Wegg ensured that the technical data were correct, and
Guy Halford-Macleod, in addition to some excellent copy-editing,
filled in valuable delail of the biggest Comet operator of them aiL Mike
Machot, as always, contributed his dedicated artistry, and Jennifer
Sterling maintained her high standard of graphic design.
7
Abandoned Hopes
Farewell to the Flying Boats
Towards the close of the 19"30s the world's leading airlines were realizing that flying
boats had their limitations, even though they had pioneered trans-ocean routes. But Pan
American's Boeing 314 Clippers still ruled the Atlantic and Pacific skies, while
B.O.A.C.'s Short S.23 boats linked the eastern hemisphere parts of the British Empire.

The First Long-Haul Landplanes

In August 1938, however, a German four-engined landplane, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Condor. D-ACON, flew non-stop from Berlin to New York, a distance of about 4,000 miles,
in 24-1/2 hours, at an average speed of 160 mph. Two days later, it flew back again.
The "Big Four" U.S. domestic airlines, together with Pan American, ordered 61 One of Britain's most promising-looking long-range airliner projects of 1939 was the Fairey FC-l. Its
Douglas DC-4s in January 1940. The aircraft had potential trans-oceanic range, as it elegant lines seemed to owe something to the de Havilland Albatross, but with Four engines instead of
amply demonstrated when wartime rroduction was diverted to military logistics. When fwo. Its design was not unlike that of the Famous Lockheed Constellation, which was to make its dra-
the war ended, the now substantia fleet was quickly converted back for commercial matic debut in 1944.
use. Howard Hughes's T.W.A., meanwhile, had sponsored the Lockheed Constellation,
which went into full production. The United States, with Pan American in the forefront,
was 'well positioned to dominate the airline skies, both at home and overseas.

Britain Tries to Keep Pace

While Germany had taken the lead in Europe with the Condor, France also realized
that the flying boat era was waning, even though Latecoere was building large succes-
sors for trans-Atlantic use. The Farman 2200 Centaure, ungainly though it looked, was
matching the flying boats' performance on the South Atlantic route.
But Britain had lagged behind in four-engined long-range airliner development;
and not until 1938 did the Air Ministry issue specifications for such a type. The pres-
surized Short S.32 was intended for service in 1940, and three aircraft were under con-
struction (G-AFMK, L, and M). Fairey proposed the FC-1, which was intended for
long-range work. The pre-war British Airways ordered 12 of the shorter-range version. The Short 14/38 was ordered by the Air Ministry, and held out considerable promise, with the quan-
General Aircraft proposed the G.A.L.40, while Fred Miles offered the X-1. Altogether, tity production of the 5.23 flying boats and their variants suggesting a fine pedigree. With four Bris-
the spirit of competition in the British Aircraft industry was very much alive. tol Hercules engines, it was estimated to cruise at 275 mph at 25,000 feet altitude, fully pressurized.
De Havilland had taken a different approach. Its trans-Atlantic contender was the
D.H.91 Albatross, intended for mail carriage only. The graceful aerodynamic design (by
Arthur Hagg) was greatly admired, but it was not ideal for long-haul work.

First Things First

In 1939, abruptly faced with the threat of Nazi bombing, blockade, and possible inva-
sion, Britain had to gird its loins and prepare for the worst. It had to concentrate on The MilesX project was a truly
building fighter aircraft to defend its shores-and did so just in time to win the Battle of
ambitious eFfort by the ever-
resourceful Fred Miles, whose
Britain; and to hit back with an armada of heavy bombers. To undertake the vast manu-
facturing task, the ambitious commercial airliner projects had to be abandoned.
imagination fore"shadowed that at
This action has often been interpreted as the result of an agreement between the the Bristol Aeroplane company,
United States and Great Britain. Not so. The U.S. needed transport aircraft to support
which built the ill-fated Brabazon in
the long-range logistics requirements of its distant armed forces, oceans away. Britain's the late 1940s. The X. 11 version
enemy was closer at hand-too close for comfort. It needed fighters and bombers, not had eight engines, and was
transport aircraft. Consequently, precious commercial airliner development years were expected to cruise at 350 mph.
lost, as the aeronautical talent had to be diverted to more urgent requirements.

8
The Brabazon Committee
Visionary Foresight
While the British were conducting a bitter war with a
remorseless foe, remarkably they never seemed to consider
the possibility of losing it, especially when, on 7 December
1941, the United States was plunged into the conflict even
more abruptly than the British, when the Japanese
destroyed half the U.S. Navy in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
On 23 December 1942, Winston Churchill's Gov-
ernment set up a special committee within the Ministry of
Aircraft Production, under the chairmanship of the vet-
eran British airman (holder of the first flying licence) Lord
Brabazon of Tara. The objective was to prepare the
country for the post-war expansion of civil air transport,
specifically by recommending the preliminary study of
different aircraft types that would be suited to the com-
mercial requirements.
The Committee never published any written reports for
public consumption; but it held a series of meetings at fre-
quent intervals, to sound expert opinion from all sections of
the industry. The meetings were always attended by spe-
cialist representatives of the Ministry, the manufacturers,
and the airlines. And they were extremely influential.
The Brabazon Types
The Committee recommended the construction of differ-
ent categories of aircraft types-all landplanes.
A trans-Atlantic giant, bigger than any American type. The Committee foresightedly recognized the probable
expansion of air traffic across the Atlantic when the war ended. But the aircraft that resulted, the Bristol
Brabazon, was not a success.
II A medium range aircraft, replacing the ubiquitous Douglas DC3. The highly successful Vickers Viscount was
developed, and the Airspeed Ambassador was also a contender in this market.
III A medium/long range aircraft, suited for British Empire routes. It became known as the "MRE"-Medium-Range
Empire type, later augmented by the "LRE"-Long-Range Empire. These emerged as the two variants of the Bris-
tol Britannia.
IV A fast trans-Atlantic mail airplane that could, perhaps, be used to carry a small number of V.I.P. passengers. Jet
propulsion was envisaged, but at the time, the conventional opinion was that the high jet fuel consumption would
prevent widespread economical commercial airline operations. De Havilland developed the idea.
V A feeder aircraft that would succeed the old de Havilland D.H.89A Rapide. The resultant Miles Marathon was
not a success, but the de Havilland Dove was.
Verdict on Vision to pass before post-war British designs (rather than civil
The original specifications proposed by the Brabazon conversions or developments from wartime bombers)
Committee were far removed from the aircraft that were were ready for airline service. But when they did, they
finally built by the British aircraft manufacturing industry. were to change the course of world air transport.
But the foundations had been laid. Especially visionary One of these, completely unrecognizable from the
was the emphasis on turbine power, either turbo-propeller original idea behind the Brabazon Type IV, was to
or straight jet. Without such advanced thinking, Britain become the de Havilland Comet, the world's first com-
would have lagged far behind the United States in the mercial jet airliner.
immediate post-war period. Even so, several years were

The D.H. 104 Dove was an early post-war metal general purpose
airliner, and was derived from one of the "Brabazon" specifica-
tions. This one is seen a long way from its birthplace. More than
500 were built. (Courtesy Peter Keating, via Roger Bentley.)
The Vickers Viscount, another "Brabazon" derivative, went into
sustained service with British European Airways (BEA.) on 16
April 1953. Almost 450 were built, a quarter of which were
exported to the United States. (B.E.A. photograph)
Originally called the "M. R.E. " (Medium Range Empire) Iype, and
also "Brabazon"-inspired, the Bristol Britannia was called to the
colours after the Comet 1 tragedies of 1954. It entered service
with B.O.A.C. on 1 February 1957. More than 120 were built.
(Courtesy Roger Bentley.)

9
Trans-Atlantic Mailplane
Tea-time at de Havilland
Towards the end of 1943 Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
chaired his weekly meeting at Hatfield. Typically British,
it was invariably held at 3.15 p.m., at tea-time. His
senior team included the veteran C.C.Walker, the com-
pany's Chief Engineer; Ron Bishop, his chief designer;
Frank Halford, his jet engine specialist; Wilfred Nixon,
treasurer; and Richard Clarkson, chief aerodynamicist,
"the wizard with the slide-rule." They were discussing the
D.H.1 00 Vampire jet fighter.
Newman, Clarkson's deputy, recalls that the claim of
388 mph was considered impossible, as it was 23 mph
faster than the Spitfire's. After anxious hours of waiting,
while Boscombe Down put the Mosquito through its
paces, Fred Rowarth, the c.ro., announced "I take my
hat off to 387 mph."
The celebrations in the local hostelry went on far
into the night, and young Geoffrey D.H., ae Havilland's
Chief Test Pilot at the time, streaked down the main street
of Amesbury, to mark the occasion.

Speed Pedigree Walker's Prediction

Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, the inspiration behind the organisation
that produced the Mosquito and Comet, amongst many other
world-beating aircraft. (DH photo]
De Havilland nad needed no introduction to speed.
Towards the end of the Great War of 1914-1 8, it had pro-
duced a light bomber, the D.H.4, which was faster than
any contemporary fighter. And it had recently repeated
this achievement with the famous D.H.98 Mosquito. The
airplane was built of wood, in which de Havilland had
enormous experience, including the use of glues, made
from 'oofs, 'orns, and 'ides. Powered by two piston-
engined Rolls-Royce Merlins, the prototype was taken to
the Royal Aircraft Establishment testing aerodrome at
Boscombe Down, in Wiltshire.
The R.A.E. officials were sceptical, having tested
many aircraft and found them always to be short of the
performance claimed by the manufacturers. David
The 1943 tea time discussions invariably involved the
estimated potential of speed and jet propulsion, in both
of which de Havilland seemed to be in the vanguard of
progress. The 72-year-old C.C.Walker, one of the
inspired group who would amuse themselves pushing
slide-rules as most people doodle, made the prophetic
observation: "You can have all this in a civil airliner."
------
The First Pipe-Dream
Early studies incorporated such revolutionary ideas as
engines contained in the rear of the fuselage, elimination
of a tail (horizontal stabilizer) and a canard wing. Such
first drawings that emerged from the D.H. design office
look strange indeed.

EARLY STUDY
FOR THE
COMET

1944
1
t

Fusetage
cr05$-
sect,on

~hree engines
fuselage)
/'
(Within
The D.H. 708 tail-less research aircraft was originally produced to investigate a similar layout for the Comet,
but by the time the first of three prototypes flew on 75 May 7946, it had already been determined that the
elimination of horizontal tail surfaces was not entirely practical.

10
 Swept Wing
Visit to Germany . GeoFFrey de Havilland was taking a big risk in Flying the Geoffrey de Havilland
Within a few weeks of Germany's surrender in May aircraft to its maximum speed at high altitudes and then Jr. was the eldest of
1945, the country was invaded by technicians from the at progressively lower altitudes. Sadly, Clarkson was three sons of the
Allies, American, British, and Soviet, to assess German right, and was waiting with Bishop at the Hatfield air- founder. He took over
prowess in various fields, chiefly aeronautical. Ronald Field on the evening when the D.H. 108 crashed into the as chief test pilot after
Bishop, de Havilland's ChieF Designer, and Richard Thames estuary. Young GeoFFrey lost his liFe because of Bob Waight was killed
Clarkson, his shrewd Aerodynamicist, put on R.A.F. uni- (what was analysed later) to be "unstable short-period in the TK.4 crash at
Form, and learned whom to salute and when. oscillation at Mach .87," not troublesome at high alti- Hatfield in October
They toured aircraft Factories, and Clarkson was espe- tudes but lethal at low altitudes. 7937, later becoming
cially impressed. He reported (in his personal Recollec- Bishop and Clarkson, and their cohorts, continued responsible for the
tions): The scale on which science and engineering have their work, on the Comet drawing boards and with the entire Mosquito devel-
been harnessed to the chariot of destruction is indeed slide rules, on the main goal, to produce the world's First opment programme, as
amazing. There is no shortage of technical personnel or jet airliner. well as many other air-
material facilities, no stinting of financial resources, even craft, including the
for apparently long term and complex developments. We Vampire iet fighter. he
in the civil aviation field will indeed be lucky in the post- was killed in the crash
war era in not having to meet German as well as Ameri- of the second DH. 708
..!:an competition in civil air transport evolution. prototype when flying
close to the speed of
Swept Wing sound at low level on
Clarkson returned From Germany convinced that Future 27 September 7946.
~

jet aircraft would have to incorporate the swept wing,

which German aerodynamicists had already been work-
ing on. When the final design For the D.H. 106, the
Comet, was Firmed up, the leading edge sweep was a
conservative 20%, less than might have been possible,
and less than Boeing and Douglas were eventually to
incorporate into the Boeing 707 and the DC-8, respec-
tively. But at the time, it was still a bold step, and the
wing that incorporated the sweep was to sustain itselF For
halF a century (see page 14).

""Tragedy
Early in 1946, de Havilland desperately wished to main-
tain what it felt to be the pole position in the British indus-
try For advanced aircraft design. One way of
demonstrating its prowess was to establish a new speed
record. Quickly the D.H. 108 Swallow was built and put
to the test. The Swallow was a tail-less swept-wing small
research airplane, and with it, D.H. hoped to beat the
world's speed record of 606 mph recently set up by the
Gloster Meteor.
Clarkson was against putting this new machine The DH. 708 tail-less experimental aircraft based on the Vampire fuselage pod was initially designed to test the layout for .the Comet. The
through severe flight testing in the air until more wind- third prototype VW720 was the first aircraft in Britain to break the sound barrier and was flown by John Derry on 9 September 7948.
tunnel tests had been done. Above all, he felt that young (DH photo)

11
The Great Team
Ronald Bishop Richard Clarkson
Ronald Bishop
Ron Bishop joined de Havilland as an 18-year-old
apprentice in 1921, and took over from A.E.Hagg as
Chief Designer in the late 1930s. He was responsible for
the design of all D.H. aircraft from the D.H.95 up to and
including the D.H.1 06 Comet. He enjoyed the services of
a remarkable team of innovative men, but took full
responsibility for all the vital decisions that had to be
made, for example, in adopting full power controls for
the Comet. He also had to bear the brunt of public and
peer criticism of de Havilland's design approach after the
catastrophic Comet crashes of 1954. But such disap-
proval did not emanate from his associates at Hatfield.
They too were well aware that, in stepping across the
threshold of a hitherto unknown speed-and-altitude enve-
lope of airliner operation, risks had had to be taken in the
march of progress. The Comet led the aeronautical world
into the field of commercial jets, and Ron Bishop was the
leader of the team that changed the airline world.
Richard Clarkson
Born in 1904, R.M. Clarkson was educated at
Clayesmore School and joined de Havilland in 1925,
as an apprentice in the fitting shop, then, after crash-
ing on his motorbike and sustaining concussion (an
12
Members of the Comet design team, from left to right: Bob Harper, Freddy Watts, Bill Tomblin, Reg Hutchinson, Alan Peters, Tim Wilkins,
David Newman, Ronald Bishop, Charles Caliendi, John Walker, Richard Clarkson, John Wimpenny, not identified, Maurice Herrod-
Hempsall and Alec Torry. (Photo via David Newman)
activity he was later to emulate with horses) he moved 'R.M.C.' determined the aerodynamic purity of every de
into the drawing office, working under A.E.Hagg. The Havilland airplane from the pre-war streamlined D.H. 91
only other technically trained man in the 25 strong Albatross (which pre-dated and bore an uncanny resem-
D.H. staff was the well-known Neville Shute Norway. blance to the post-war Constellation) to the D.H. 121 Tri-
Clarkson first worked on the D.H.66 Hercules, and pro- dent (which pre-dated and bore an uncanny
gressed rapidly up the ladder. He was involved with resemblance to the Boeing 727).
some great airplanes, including the D.H.88 Comet, He was described by Rolls-Royce's W. Lappin as
which won the England-Australia Air Race in 1934 . "the most honest performance engineer in the aircraft
Three of the first five, and four of the first eight, to cross industry." For those who worked for him, he was also
the finishing line were de Havillands. sometimes difficult to cope with. He did not suffer fools
Clarkson was a brilliant mathematician and an intu- gladly, and was ruthlessly intolerant of those who tried
itive thinker. When this co-author (Davies) joined de Hav- to obfuscate. But behind the sometimes abrasive tongue,
illand in 1959, he was told by a colleague at Bristol: he was a kindly and modest man. I used to feel that he
"you are lucky; you are going to work for the cleverest was always struggling, self-effacively, to conceal his
man in British aviation." I believe this was correct. own obvious brilliance.
Early Experiments
A pair of Lancastrians had the outer Merlin engines replaced by
de Havilland Ghost jet engines for endurance testing at medium
altitudes. VM703 is seen flying on jet power alone in August
1947. (OH photo]
Across the Threshold
The de Havilland company was heavily-almost ruth-
lessly-penalized by the excessive publicity given to the
catastrophic Comet crashes, with the revelation of a
structural deficiency resulting from an operational !he-
nomenon hitherto unknown, or at least unrecognize by,
any aircraft manufacturer, either in Britain or elsewhere.
Often forgotten, however, is the enormous range of
experimental work that the Hatfield company undertook,
breaking new technical ground in many aspects of aero-
nautical engineering.
Author Mike Ramsden, who was at D.H. and for
several decades has been a shrewd observer of techni-
cal progress, summarized these at the historic gathering
of D.H. alumni at Hatfield on 15 March 1989. He
pointed out that, among the varied breakthrough accom-
plishments of the de Havilland team, several options
were rejected, for example, rocket assisted take-off (the
passengers would not have appreciated that); ammonia
iniection; and flight re-fuelling (hardly practicable). But
"Robbie" Robinson revolutionized pressurization, pro-
cessing "tons rather than pounds of air... so that grannies
and babies would not know the difference." The direct
bleed from the engine compressors has been used by
every airliner since. Frank Halford, not Whittle or von
Ohain, produced the first practical commercial jet
To determine the rain clearance capabilities of the Comet wind-
screen, a mock-up nose was fitted to a Horsa glider and flown
from Hatfield during the winter of 1946. (OH photo]
engine. The Comet wing was an integral fuel tank, first
in the world. The Comet was the first production airliner
to have a multiple-wheel landing gear, the first to have
full pressure refuelling, and the first to have full power
controls, but with simulated "feel"-an intuitive decision
made by Ron Bishop, to whom every pilot should be eter-
nally thankful.
Ramsden commented that he had felt "conscious of
watching the frontiers of technology being pushed
back." The de Havilland Comet extended the frontiers
(in speed alone), in one dramatic giant step, by a
greater margin than had ever been dared before. But
the multiplicity of design features that led to the fulfil-
ment of that achievement, each one a minor triumph of
engineering ingenuity, has, regrettably, been over-
looked; and the small group of intuitive innovators who
made these things possible have been cruelly under-rec-
ognized and unappreciated.
Engine Tests
Running engines on a test bed is one thing; flying them
in an actual airplane is another. The first Ghost was test-
run in September 1945, and shortly thereafter two of
them were installed as outboard engines on an Avro Lan-
caster IV bomber (VM703). Once airborne, the Lanc
flew on the two Ghosts alone, with the two Merlins shut
As part of the comprehensive testing of the Comet, a special rig
was constructed and fitted with the nose wheel undercarriage in
February 1948. The large outrigger wheels were from a Mosquito
undercarriage. (OH photo]
down. These tests were made by John Cunningham and
Chris Beaumont, with a second Ghost-Lancastrian
(VM729) added.
Steering Tests
When the Comet was in the early stages of construction,
the British aircraft industry was inexperienced in nose-
wheel landing gears. The fine wartime heavy bombers,
Lancasters, Halifaxes, and Stirlings, were all "tail-sitters."
De Havilland could not wait to test this style of gear until
the aircraft had been built, and contrived a novel solu-
tion, converting a truck chassis (with Halifax bomber
main wheels). It must have been a strange sight on the
Hatfield runway, especially as Sir Geoffrey was often on
board the test vehicle.
Windscreen Tests
Another anticipated problem was the need to provide
the pilots with a clear view, ensuring that rain would not
impair visibility through the windscreen in the nose of an
aircraft flying at 500 mph. In 1946, a Comet wind-
screen was fitted to a Horsa glider-the type that had
been used to land troops in Normandy in 1944-and
although this flying machine did not reach the Comet
speed, it served its purpose. Necessity is often the
mother of strange invention.
13
Visionary Design

The D.H. 91 Albatross, which ioined Imperial Airways as the Fro-
bisher class, went into service on the London-Paris route in
November 1938. Its beautiful design{ by Arthur Hagg, with Clark-
son's aerodynamics inputs, foreshadowed greater things to come.
John Wimpenny
John started work with de Havilland in October 1940,
when he applied to Richard Clarkson for a job, and with
support from the latter's unerring instinct, was hired to do
weight analysis. A few months later, he transferred to
Technical Aerodynamics. His contribution, specializing
ll
in stability and control, was lIunique and outstanding
(Clarkson). Much later, in retirement, during the gales of
1995, he corresponded with his old mentor{ who was
then 91 years old, to solve the problem of how a heavy
oak garden bench had been jerked from its normal posi-
The Mosquito was originally designed as a high speed unarmed
wooden bomber; but was also adapted for a number of roles,
including unarmed photo reconnaissance, night fighter; fighter
bomber; and pathfinder. The prototype W4050 made its first Flight
on 25 November 1940 and is preserved at the de Havilland Air-
craft Heritage. (DH photo]
tion against a wall, and deposited upside down in the
middle of the lawn. It was all a question of wind com-
ponents, vortex velocities, and stagnation points, prov-
ing that a garden bench can move.
In his spare time, and with support from the D.H.
Technical School{ he led the design and construction of
the Puffin human-powered aircraft, which he eventually
flew to hold the world distance record of 996 yards for
ten years. He is still active in promoting the design of
human-powered aircraft for sporting activities.
The Vampire fighter; de Havilland's first iet aircraft, making its
maiden flight from Hatfield on 20 September 1943. Built as a
Ghost-engined high-altitude Comet test-bed, it flew to the record
height of 59,446 feet on 23 March 1948. (DH photo]
might equally be termed inspired intuition{ born of
unique experience, and Clarkson's uncanny judgement.
William Tamblin
Bill Tamblin's early career was spent in the lofting rooms
of the shipbuilding industry, and moved over to aviation
in the late 1930s. His contribution to the Comet was
immense. He was in charge of designing the wing, and
the problem was that{ with buried engines, there were
four enormous holes to be reckoned with, as a potential
source of structural weakness. To quote Mike Ramsden,
the wings IIhave never given trouble ...Tam got il right
without a computer or even a pocket calculator. Just
1I

David Newman how right he was can be deduced from the fact that the
David was one of the many fine graduates of the de Hav- Comet wing{ designed in 1946, will fly in to the next
illand Technical School, where students were given a century on the Nimrod (see page 58).
heady mixture of theory and practice. He joined Clark-
son in 1938 and in due course became his deputy, and
eventually succeeded him. He was responsible for cali-
brating aircraft performance, and still remembers, with
modest pride, that his estimate of the Mosquito's speed
was within one mile per hour of the level decided by the
A. & A.E.E. (Aircraft & Armament Experimental Estab-
lishment) judges at Boscombe Down (see page 10).
Newman worked on the threshold of the unknown. The
Comet had no precedent. It was the first large aircraft
powered by jet engines, so that no data existed for com-
parative estimates. He describes the method as IIcalcu-
lated guesswork ll which, in the context of de Havilland's Bill Tamblin (right] chats to a fellow member of the design team,
John Wimpenny David Newman contribution to the science of aeronautics at the timet John Walker.

14
Advanced Engineering
De Havilland's series production was a minor
miracle of engineering prowess, thanks
largely to the veteran production director,
Harry Povey, who had spent three wartime
years in Canada, organizing the manufac-
ture of Mosquitoes. These pictures are
selected from the 129 illustrations in his mas-
i terful paper presented to the Royal Aeronau-

tical Society on 12 April 1951. The aircraft,

its engines, systems, multiple-wheel undercar-
riage, swept wing: all were produced by
innovative methods, including Redux bond-
ing, often with advanced tooling for which
there was little precedent. Bishop and Clark-
son and Harper ruled the top floor at Hat-
On of the 25-Foot double curvature Redux presses showing a stringer being attached to the Fuselage skin. (DH photo) Harry Pavey
field; but the shop floor was Harry Povey's.

The center-section drilling jig. (DH photo)

The Comet wing under-

going torture as it was
tested at HatField in
1948. This wing is still
Flying on the RAF.
Nimrod. (DH photo) This picture was taken during the night shift at HatField in March 1949, as the world's First jet airliner; the D.H. 106, was taking shape.

15
De Havilland Ghost

Maior Frank Halford and the Engine Company team gather for the The de Havilland Goblin iet engine was Britain's first production iet The de Havilland Ghost engine was adapted from the military
turning off of the Goblin engine after its 500 hr endurance test engine, and produced a thrust of up to 3,350 lb. (DH photo) Ghost, and was the world's first commercial iet engine, develop-
run. 2nd left to right; Aubrey Burke, Frank Halford, Dr Moult, ing up to 5,500 Ib thrust. (DH photo)
Brodie and Buckingham. (DH photo)
With its visionary and creative designs, the de Havilland company, with Major Halford as Chairman of the Board military version. The Ghost received its type approval,
organisation had always been able to attract high qual- and Technical Director. From the Goblin was developed the first for a civil jet engine, on 28 June 1948.
ity talented engineers, and Major Frank Halford was the the more powerful Ghost which was to power the Frank Halford died suddenly and unexpectedly on
creator of the products of the de Havilland Engine Com- Venom, which first flew in September 1949. The Ghost 16 April 1955, his forty years of experience being lost
pany. His first significant engine was the Gipsy for the was also developed for the Comet, involving some 80 instantly. Not only had he pioneered the development and
Moths and in 1941 he led the team which started devel- percent redesign, the most obvious change being the production of jet engines, but he had led the world in
opment of a jet engine. The first drawings of the H.1, central round intake, instead of the split intakes for the designing power plants for commercial jet propulsion.
later to become the Goblin, were issued for manufactur-
ing to start on 8 August 1941. 248 days later, on 13
The perfect mating of
April 1942, the first engine started running on the Hat-
elegant shape and
field test-bed. On 2 June it was run at full power for the
dynamic power:
first time and preparations were made to begin produc-
this photogroph was
tion in January 1945, once the type approval tests had
taken by the de Hav-
been completed.
illand photogrophic
Although the de Havilland Vampire was not yet
department on
ready for flight, two early pre-production engines were
7 December 1949.
installed in the prototype Meteor for its first flight on 5
March 1943, only 11 months after the first test-bed run,
as the Whittle-designed Rolls-Royce-produced engines
had been delayed. The prototype Vampire made its
maiden flight on 20 September 1943, and was soon to
exceed 500 mph.
The de Havilland Engine Company was formed on
1 February 1944, from the Engine Division of the aircraft

16
Dramatic Debut
The prototype Comet was built in the Experimental Department at Hatfield and, when rolled out (backwards), carried the Class B mark-
ings G-5-1 on its polished aluminium skin. (DH photo)
The Comet made its maiden flight from Hatfield on 27 July 1949
under the command of John Cunningham. The prototype was
fitted with a large single-wheel main undercarriage, later
replaced by four-wheeled units on production aircraft. (DH photo)
Well-Kept Secret ('
Many aviation people knew~at "something was going
on" at Hatfield. Following the dignified promotion stan-
dards set by Martin Sharpe, de Havilland did nbt say
much. The first prototype iust happened to be assembled
behind some large ground-test rigs, cloaking, if not cam-
ouflaging, what was happening behind closed doors.
Mike Ramsden, who in the late 1940s was a young
apprentice (another D.H. Tech School alumnus), once
ventured into the Experimental Shop, to be greeted with
"Oi you, clear off!" Everyone in the factory knew about
the Comet, but not one of the 10,000 workers sneaked
anything to the press. He remembers too that, for the
benefit of curious visitors, Ron Bishop used to keep an
odd-looking tail-less model on his desk which looked
nothing like the Comet, but which served the purpose of
putting people off the scent.
Roll-Out
On 27 July 1949, the London press corps were invited
for the unveiling of the new breed of airliner. It was a
dramatic occasion. All the air correspondents, even the
cub reporters, were aware that aviation history was in
the making. After the conventional hospitality and brief-
ing, and because of some inclement weather, the
reporters were told that the aircraft would fly when it was
ready, and not before, and they all went home.
After the first flight on 27 July 1949, the flight crew was congrat-
ulated by the construction team. John Cunningham is holding a
white folder, with Frank Reynolds, the flight engineer, behind him.
John Wilson, who was in the right hand seat, is in the centre, also
holding a white folder, and to his left is Tony Fairbrother, the flight
test observer. (DH photo)
First Flight
The same evening, John Cunningham, de Havilland's
Chief Pilot, decided that the Comet was ready and so
was he. He took off and flew for 31 minutes, ascending
to 10,000 feet, and then saluted the de Havilland staff
with a fly-past at 100 feet. It was a moment to cherish.
But not by the press, who had gone home. In high dud-
geon, they took a long time to forgive the folk at Hatfield.
The Times correspondent said he would never mention
the name de Havilland again. And he didn't.
17
Test Flights
The Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner, made The Comet was one of
its maiden flight, in the hands of John Cunningham, from severa/large aircraft of PROTOTYPE

~
Hatfield on 27 July 1949. The second prototype joined its era whose prototype
the flight development programme exactly a (ear after single large wheel
the first, these twa aircraft sharing the bulk 0 the flight evolved into a four-
testing of this bold advance in air transport. The proto- wheel "bogie" main
type had flown two years and nine months after detail landing gear.
design had started, and service entry with BOAC was a
further two years and nine months later.
On the maiden flight, the prototype was airborne for PRODUCTION

A
31 minutes, climbing to 10,000 feet and a check made
of low and medium speeds before returning to Hatfield.
In the first 18 working days, the Comet flew 32.5 hours,
achieving operational speeds and altitudes, and includ-
ing general handling at medium loading. The high rate
of serviceability allowed up to five flights a day with only
refuelling and modest turn-around attention. During the During the test programme, many city-to-city records
testing, handling was found to be satisfactory in the air were broken. Tropical trials were carried out at Nairobi During the flight development programme, the Comet prototype
and on the ground. It was also found to be readily adapt- for high altitude performance, and Khartoum for higher was fitted with a pair of de Havilland Sprite rocket engines
able to both medium and short range routes, by trading temperatures at lower altitudes. Following the manufac- between the Ghost iet pipes. This was a provision to increase
the fuel load for payload. turer's testing, the second prototype was delivered to power with heavy loads on hot and high take-offs, but was not
All flying controls were power-operated, some of the B.O.A.C on 2 April 1951 for route proving and to study used in practice. (DH photo)
development work for these having been done on the new operating techniques world-wide. On 19 October
DH.108. Large plain flaps were fitted on the wing trail- G-ALZK landed at Heathrow at the end of the twelfth
ing edge and deceleration was achieved with air brakes overseas tour, having flown 460 hours over 91,000
on the moderately swept-back wings. There were no miles, and making 91 landings at 31 overseas airports.
wing leading edge devices and fuel was carried in bag
tanks in the wing centre-section, with integral tanks in the
main wings.
During the development programme, flights of up to
5.5 hours duration were made, an altitude of 43,000
feet was reached, and Mach 0.8 was achieved in a shal-
low dive.
Performance figures included a cruising speed of
490 mph at around 40,000 feet. Runway length
required was 6,525 feet, giving normal operational
stage lengths of 2,140 miles.
A new shape in the sky. This dramatic picture was taken on 27
July 1949, iust after the Comet had taken off for the first time.
Hatfield-Built Comet 1 Prototypes, for Ministry of Supply
(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
06001 Prot G-AlVG/G-5-1 27.07.49 01.09.49 OH fit dev, structurol testing at RAE farnborough from 1954
The Comet 1 featured a flight deck layout based on the existing
technology, but with all the controls to hand in a compact cockpit.
06002 Prot G-AlZK/G-5-2 27.07.50 02.04.51 BOAC route praving, broken up 3.57 at Hatfield (B.O.AC photo)

18
The New Vision
The Great Leap Forward
Just how great an impact the Comet was apparently des-
tined to have on the world of air transport is vividly illus-
trated by the chart on this page. Over the years,
piston-engined aircraft had progressively improved their
speeds since the Ford Tri-Motor of the late 1920s "took
off at 90, cruised at 90, and landed at 90." But the
speeds of thoroughbred airliners such as the Lockheed
Constellation and the Douglas DC series had come close
to reaching a plateau of maximum possible achieve-
ment. The best of them could barely manage more than
300 mph on the cruise. The Comet improved on this by
an extra 200 mph, a greater incremental leap forward
than had been achieved by the previous three airliner
generations during two decades.
Dramatic Proof
While test flying can build up the necessary accumula-
tion of hours and landings, there is, for commercial air-
liners, no substitute for en route experience, flying in
different climatic conditions, and using airfields of vary-
ing quality in conditions often far removed from the
developed operational environment of Hatfield or
Heathrow. De Havilland did not take long to bite that
particular bullet. Co-author of this book, Davies, recalls
that he was at a meeting at the Ministry of Civil Avia-
tion on 25 October 1949. It was interrupted when a
messenger slipped quietly through the door and
handed a note to the chairman of the meeting, who
then stood up, and said: "Gentlemen, the D.H.1 06 has
just flowf"! to Castel Benito (the airfield at Tripoli, North
Africa) in 3 hours 23 minutes." This was a distance of
1,468 miles, and hurried pushing of slide-rules
revealed that this was an average speed of 434 mph,
and a cruising speed (allowing for taxi in and out,
climb and descent, take off and landing) of about 500
mph. This was a five-hour flight by the fastest Constel-
lation, which could only have reached Rome in the
same time. The meeting broke up.

REGD

600 I-----+----t- 600

MPH MPH
500 500
De Havilland Comet 1
I
Tupolev 114 ft>
400 I---I---+------:--~~+_-+---~==+______l
400

-f----+------J 300

200 1--_-+-_ _+LJ~ou9Ias 200

I
Douglas DC-3
100 r----:::;;;;o-F liLn .~-+-- AIRLINER r-------; 100
ord- n-lVIotor
I CRUISING SPE EDS
Junkers- F 13 f 920-2000
I 0
1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
The Comet's first public appearance was at the Farnborough
This chart illustrates the dramatic impetus given by the First Comet in the pursuit of increased airliner speeds. Piston-engined aircraft Show in September 7949, and the first overseas flight was made
had reached their limit (because of power limitations) while turbo-propeller airliners were inhibited by the problem of propeller tip to Castel Benito (Tripoli) in Libya on 25 October. The average
speeds going destructively supersonic. \ speed was 458 mph at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.

19
B.O.A.C. Makes History
Time-Shrinl(er
The de Havilland D.H.1 06 Comet 1 received its Certifi-
cate of Airworthiness on 22 January 1952, and this ver-
sion of the world's first commercial jet airliner entered
airline service with the state-owned British Overseas Air-
line Corporation (B.O.A.C.), on 2 May of that year.
The event acted like an electric shock throughout the
world of airlines. As mentioned on page 19, the increase
in speed, compared with contemporary piston-engined
airliners, whether maximum, or cruising, or block (from
"chocks off" to "chocks on"), was more dramatic than at
any time in the history of commercial aviation. And
(excluding Concorde, whose operations are restricted to
two airlines and two routes, and whose life-span is lim-
ited) such significant progress will not occur again.
The Comet proceeded to shatter all records in its
class. B.O.A.C. put it into service on the route to South
Africa, not the easiest one operationally, with stops at
Khartoum, where the temperature could be 1200 F, and
at other airports at 6,000-foot altitudes. The Comet took
all this in its stride. By the time a DC-6B, thoroughbred of
the previous generation, arrived in Johannesburg from
London, the Comet was there and half-way back.
-' --=:::=--===-------
Comet 7 G-ALYP was the first production aircraft delivered to BOAC on 8 April 1952, but was lost off the island of Elba, after taking off
from Rome on 10 January 7954. (DH photo)
20
Maintenance Revolution longer did the ground maintenance staff have to inspect
More impressive from an airline standpoint was that the aircraft for popped rivets. This began to have an effect
faith of the manufacturer and the operator in this new on airframe lives, with life-spans gradually increasing, a
innovation was vindicated. development welcomed by one and all, not least by the
Five Comets could do the same work in a year as accountants, struggling with amortization calculations
eight piston-engined aircraft, even though the seating was and progress payments.
only 36, all first-class. Most important, it destroyed the
claim that the high fuel consumption of the engines would
be an economic handicap. It was certainly high; but the
kerosene was cheap, far cheaper than high-octane gaso-
line. And even more important was that the maintenance
costs plummeted downwards as the smooth-running tur-
bines displayed little need for constant attention. The
IB.O. (Time Between Overhaul), the critical parameter for
engine reliability, and consequent costs, started off at 375
hours. Within a year it was 1,000 hours, a level seldom,
if ever, reached by piston engines. It was said that the jet
engines only needed the threat of an oil-can to keep them
running for another 500 hours or so.
The same astonishing improvement, though taking
longer to determine, was evident in airframe mainte-
nance. The aircraft structure did not have to undergo the
constant vibration caused by reciprocating engines. No
G-ALYP es
The world's first certificate of airworthiness for a iet airliner was
awarded on 22 January 1952 and services began from London
to Johannesburg on 2 May 1952.
B.D.A.C. D.H.I06 Comet I
Although somelvhat conservative by
todcry's desigll standards, the Comet J
represellted the epitome offuturistic 'jet
age' srylillg ill J 952.

Length 93 ft. Span 115 ft. 36 seats 490 mph

De Havilland Ghost (4,450 lb. thrust) x 4 105,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 1,500 miles range

Hatfield-Built Comet 15 for BOAC

(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
COMET I
06003 1 G-AlVP 09.01.51 08.04.52 Crashed off Elba 10.1.54
06004 1 G-AlVR 28.07.51 17.05.52 Badly damaged at Calcutta 25.7.53, structural test at RAE 6.55
06005 1 G-AlV5 08.09.51 04.02.52 BU at RAE 1955
06007 1 G-AlYU 13.1251 06.03.52 Water tonk tests at RAE 1954
06008 1 G-AlYV 09.04.52 23.04.52 Crashed near Calcutta 2.5.53. 8roken up in violent slorm.
06009 1 G-AlYW 25.02.52 14.06.52 Structural test at RAE 1955
06010 1 G-AlVX 09.07.52 25.07.52 Testing at Hatfield and RAE 1955, BU 6.55
06011 1 G-AlVV 10.09.52 23.09.52 Crashed off Stromboli 8.4.54 The futuristic Comet 1 was 16 ft. shorter than a Douglas DC-7.
06012 1 G-AlYZ 23.09.52 30.09.52 Foiled to toke off from Rome 26.10.52 & written off
06013 IA G-ANAV 11.08.52 12.0B.53 Ex CPA, f1ighllesling at RAE 24.5.54 & braken up 1955, The first Comet was not a particularly large aircraft, as Mike Machat's drawing shows.
nose to Science Museum, slored at Wroughton The first-class seating capacity was 36, about the same as in the average commuter air-
liner in the 1980s

21
World's First Jet Airline Network
Settin~ the Pace
The BritiSh Overseas Airline Corporation (B.O.A.C) did
not waste time in pressing home its competitive advan-
tage. On 11 August 1952, three months after the Johan-
nesburg inaugural, service began to Colombo, Ceylon
(Sri Lanka). This was followed two months later by ser-
vice to Singapore; and on 3 April 1953, the Comet flew
into Tokyo. In less than two years, thirty points in the east-
ern hemisphere were receiving jet airrine service (twenty
by B.O.A.C.) with ten more in the Mediterranean and
Africa by the two French airlines.
Airfield Performance
The Comet could use almost any airfield that was then used
by piston-engined airliners. One exception was Hong
THE WORLD'S FIRST
JET AIRLINE NETWORK
22
Kong, which promptly set about building a new runway on
reclaimed land. The Comet called at Manila instead. This
adaptability was of considerable advantage to the airport
authorities everywhere, as they did not need drastic (or
expensive) construction work to enter the Jet Age.
World Reaction
The airline world certainly sat up and took notice. Even
across the Atlantic, where airliners were mass-produced
on a scale unknown in Europe in peacetime, there was
a significant piece of news. On 20 October 1952, the
great Pan American Airways placed an order for a
developed version of the Comet (see also Page 36).
Alarm bells were sounding off everywhere, and the
world was, in true Emersonian fashion, beating a path-
way to de Havilland's door. Chief salesman Frank Lloyd
was hard pressed to accommodate the stream of airline
visitors, cheque-books at the ready, and D.H. had to
establish a special guest house.
De Havilland had the world at its feet; and Great
Britain seemed poised to challenge American domi-
nance in the field. But Pride, justifiable though it was,
sadly came before a dreadful Fall, one that was to dash
all the hopes and to demolish the rewards that the Hat-
field team so richly deserved (see pages 28-31).
John Cunningham and Sir Geoffrey de Havilland talk to Her
Majesty The Queen at Hatfield by Comet 7 G-ALYR. To the right of
Sir Geoffrey is Major Frank Halford with Chief Designer R.E.Bishop
just behind. Princess Margaret is talking to Sir Miles Thomas, Chair-
man of B. O.A. c.; behind her is Lady Salisbury, with Wilfred Nixon,
de Havilland's financial director; on the extreme right. {DH photo]
V.A.T. (Aeromaritime) Comet IA
AEROMARITIME..............-

!J~/T
F-BGSA

Length 93 ft. Span 115 ft. 44 seats 490 mph

De Havilland Ghost (5,000 lb. thrust) x 4 115,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 1,750 miles range

Commercial aviation in France during the post-war period witnessed
a rivalry between the flag-carrying state airline, Air France, and two
well-financed independents, one of which was backed by the big
shipping company, Chargeurs Reunis. Traditionally, its sphere of
influence was Africa, and it had founded Aeromaritime, based in
West Africa, as long ago as 1934. After the Second World War, it
made efforts to augment its place in the French airline sun.
Stealing a march on Air France, and now generally known as
U.A.T. (Union Aeromaritime de Transport), Aeromaritime took
delivery of its first Comet in December 1952, and, on 19 Febru-
ary 1953, became the second airline in the world to inaugurate
jet service. The first route was from Paris to Dakar, via
Casablanca, and this was extended to Abidjan in April. A second
African route was added in May, to Brazzaville, and this was
extended to Johannesburg on 2 November 1953. Since
B.O.A.C.'s Comet debut in May 1952, South African businessmen
wishing to visit Paris had been able to get there sooner by taking
the B.O.A.C. Comet to London and connecting with B.E.A. Unfor-
tunately, this enterprising route development was short-lived, fol-
lowing the grounding of the Comets early in 1954.

Hatfield-Built Comet 1As for UAT, France

C/N Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
06015 lA F-BGSA 13.11.52 11.12.52 Withdrown from use 12.4.54 at
Ie Bourget &broken up 1961
06016 1A F-BGSB 21.01.53 19.02.53 Withdrawn from use 12.4.54 at
Ie Bourget &broken up 1961
The French independent airline Aeromaritime (U.A. T) ordered three of the Damaged beyond repair Dakar,
06019 1A F-BGSC 15.04.53 30.04.53
slightly more powerful Comet 7As. F-BGSA was the first and made its maiden Senegal, 25.6.53
flight on 73 November 7952. (DH photo)

23
Elegance Aloft

--
$3
-.:::
"""'7

----
~

G-AlYP$

The two Comet prototypes were ioined by the first production aircraft G-ALYP during a test flight in March 1951. (DH photo)

24
Air France Comet IA
TIle Comet 1A was the same size as the COlllet 1, but lvith higher-rated Ghost
engines, perillittilzg higher all-up weight and 44 seats (see page 21 for details).
ironicallY, the Comet's graceful nose section was grafted onto France's twin-jet
CaraFelle ill 1955, although the windshield shape was later modified.

AIR II

Atlantic, with the British Air Registration Board observing B.O.AC. was burning up the air routes, drawing acclaim
bitterly that it had accepted C.AA Certification "carte everywhere, and the world's airlines were (as mentioned
blanche" and felt very strongly that it was "an equally on page 22) standing in line to become jet operators.
competent body to judge airworthiness." Ironically, later Impatient with the C.A.A's stonewalling, de Havilland
events were to suggest that the C.AA's caution was jus- sold O_N.A.'s Comets, plus an extra one, to Air France,
tified, as the Comets had to be withdrawn from service which gladly put them into service so as to keep pace with
in 1954. But in 1951, the American agency could not U_Al (Page 23)_ Starting with a service to Beirut (then a
possibly have foreseen the cause. It had been right for sophisticated vacation destination of the eastern Mediter-
the wrong reason. ranean), on 26 August 1953, Air France soon added
routes to Cairo, Algiers, and Casablanca, in the following
The French national carrier, Air France, was an early export cus- Air France, by Default month_ At the time of the disasters of 1954, the airline was
tomer for the Comet 1A with an order for three aircraft. F-BGNX De Havilland was in the privileged position of knowing planning to operate the Comet to Stockholm.
was the first, and the fuselage is preserved by the de Havilland that it could dispose of the aircraft very easily, as
Heritage. (DH photo]
o 500 1000
Hatfield-Built Comet 1As for Air France
Early American Interest Scale-Miles
The French national airline, Air France, acquired its (IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
Comets under unusual circumstances. Towards the end of 06020 lA F-BGNX 06.05.53 12.06.53 To RAE 27.6.56 os G-AOJT &
1951, an order for two Ghost-engined Comet 1shad dismontled. Fuseloge 10 OH
been under negotiation with the United States supple- Heriloge 20.3.85.
mental (non-scheduled/charter) company, Overseas 06021 1A F-8GNY 22.05.53 07.07.53 G-AOJU, converted 10 lX8 2.57
National Airways (O.N.A.). It was intended for opera- os XM829, A&AEE 14.6.61, to
tions, even at low fares, within the United States, but the Stonsled Fire School 20.2.64,
U.S. Civil Aeronautics Authority (C.AA) refused to burnt 11.70.
accept British certification of the airplane. 06022 lA F-BGNZ 16.03.53 22.07.53 G-5-23, G-APAS, converted 10
1XB 3.57, 10 XM823 wilh OH
Airworthiness Questioned Props 22.10.58, 10 27 MU
Needless to state, this caused an exchange of strong B.4_68, to Cosford 17.9.78, os
words between the authorities on both sides of the 8351M.

25
The Comet Sets the Pace

."

Canadian Pacific Airlines ordered two Comet 7As, but with the loss of the second aircraft on take-off The flights between London and Johannesburg were often pooled between B.O.A.C and South African
from Karachi on 2 March 7953, the other Comet CF-CUM was delivered to B.o.A.C as its sole Comet Airways. Comet 7A G-ANAVwith the main titles of B.O.A.C, also carried the S.A.A logo on the nose.
7A G-ANA\I. (OH photo] (OH photo]

Hatfield-Built Comet 1As for Canadian Pacific

(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
06013 lA (fCUM 11.08.52 .Empress of Voncouver, transferred to BOAC as G-ANAV
06014 lA (fCUN 24.12.52 02.03.53 Empress of Hawaii, failed to take off from Karochi 2.3.53 & wriNen off.

Ha tf'Ie Id -BUI'It Come t lA s for th e Rova I Cana d'Ian A'If Force

(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
06017 1A!IXB 5301 21.02.53 18.03.53 412 5q, retired 3.10.64 & braken up, nose to Rackliffe Air Museum
0601B lA!IXB 5302 25.03.53 13.04.53 412 5q, retired 3.10.63, to CF-5VR, to Miomi as N3735 B/U 1975. The Royal Canadian Air Force took delivery of two Comet 7As in March and April 1953, and fol-
lowing the Comet crashes in 7954, these two aircraft were returned to de Havilland to have the cabins
Both these Comets were converted in September 1~57 at Chester to 5rs 1XBs with strengthened cobins. strengthened. (OH photo]

26
Royal Air Force Involvement

(ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE)

AIR TRANSPORT CQ .. MAND

The world's first 'stretched' jet airliTw;

the RAP Comet 2 featured a threejoot
fuselage extel/sion fon-vanl of the wing,
.... ...
ROYAL AIR FORCE TRANSPORT

~
COMMAND

and modified oval windows.

B.O.A.C. had ordered Avon-powered Comet 2s, intending to put them into service in 1954 to augment the fleet of Ghost-powered Comet 1s. But the tragic disasters in
the Mediterranean (pages 29-30) changed all the best-laid plans. The Royal Air Force took over the Comet 2 fleet and put them to good use (see pages 32-34)

If
j,-----'----

Three of the early Comet 2s were converted for signals duties as the Mk.2R, of which series XK655 is A Royal Air Force Comet 2, photographed in Moscow on 29 June 1956, when it took the Minister of
seen on approach to Hatfield in September 7973. (Philip Birtles photo) Transport and Civil Aviation, Nigel Birch, back to London.

27
 Disaster
Pride Before the Fall
The progress made after the inaugural flight to Johannesburg on 2 May 1952 had been G-ALY
spectacular. B.O.A.C.'s Comets were flying throughout southern and eastern Asia as far 10 January 19',
as Tokyo. Four airlines were flying Comets and other airlines were hastening to buy
them and put them into service, so as to match the energetic competition from the British
airline. At the beginning of 1954, thirty cities in the eastern hemisphere were privileged
to receive iet airline service.
True, there had been some crashes, but these had not dimmed the enthusiasm of
the airline world. A Comet that crashed near Calcutta on 2 May 1953 had encountered
a violent thunderstorm, but this seemed to have been the result of abnormal stresses that
could have happened to any airliner. Even so, this crash instigated the installation of
storm-warning radar, and of "G-feel"-stick forces that would be proportional to the
control loads. The Comet was flying at twice the normal cruising height of piston-
engined airliners, and in these developments, it was ahead of the industry.
Comets that had been written off at Rome on 26 October 1952 and at Karachi on
zan
2 March 1953 were caused by ground stalling from the high angle of attack on take-
off and scraping their tails on the runways. Ron Bishop made a pencil drawing of the
shape of the leading edge modification (no doubt with Richard Clarkson looking over
his shoulder) and the Nimrods are still flying with it.
G-ALY'tf
Disaster...
But when, on 10 January 1954, a Comet plunged into the Mediterranean Sea near the 8 April 1954
island of Elba, there seemed to be no explanation. This was the fourth Comet crash and St omboli"
B.O.A.C. took all its Comets out of service and gave them an exhaustive inspection. o q.~
<J
Nothing untoward was found, and although, justifiably, the pilots had some misgivings, ':t

The Tyrrenian Sea was a veritable Comet graveyard. The Elba crash, which led to the first inspection,
was followed all too soon by the Stromboli crash, which precipitated the exhaustive investigation by
Professor Arnold Hall's team from the Royal Aeronautical Establishment at Farnborough.

jet service was resumed on 23 March. Such was the confidence in Britain's new airliner
that many were convinced that sabotage was the most likely cause of the crash .

This 1949 picture of a soaring Comet (the first prototype) quickly became a sad memory in the after-
math of the shattering events of 1~54.
...and Worse
This idea was quickly forgotten when, only two weeks after the resumption of service,
another Comet crashed off the coast of Sicily, near the island of Stromboli, on 8 April
1954. The circumstances of the two crashes were similar. Both had occurred, at about
the same altiitude; and both aircraft had about the same airframe life.
The coincidence was too obvious to ignore, and the British Certificate of Airwor-
thiness was withdrawn on 12 April. An agonizing reappraisal of the entire structural
integrity of the de Havilland Comet, hitherto proudly hailed as the world's first and still
the only iet airliner, was initiated.

28
Salvage
Send for the Navy! The wreckage of a Comet air- ~~ ...:~.~;" 7~
liner that crashed six minutes ~ .. "-
after take-off from Dum Dum '0.
A thorough investigation was undertaken by the Royal Airport, near Calcutta, on May :
Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough-ironically the 4, 7953. Believed to have dis- .
very location where Sir Geoffrey de Havilland had first integrated in a violent thunder-
made his mark during the Great War of 1914-18. The storm, this crash was never
enquiry was conducted under the direction of Professor satisfactorily explained.
Arnold Hall (who was later knighted for his work), a
respected aviation authority. His painstaking and volu-
minous report, the size of a telephone directory (with a
far more fascinating plot), was later to become one of
the most historic in the annals of civil aeronautics.
The Royal Navy had already been trying to recover
the remains of the Elba crash, which had occurred in rel-
atively shallow water. It now intensified its efforts, with
remarkable success. For several days, amid growing
anticipation, pieces were dredged and lifted on board
the salvage vessels and despatched to Farnborough,
which eagerly awaited them as missing pieces for their
metallurgical jigsaw puzzle that was taking shape. This
unprecedented episode of technical detective work led to
unexpected success.

Eurelm! Sir Arnold Hall

The Comet fuselage had quite obviously suffered an

abrupt and catastrophic failure, caused by a devastating
decompression. In layman's terms, it had quite simply
exploded. But why? The jigsaw puzzle offered the vital
clues. A critical failure was identified at the the corner of
a rectangular-shaped inspection hatch on top of the fuse-
lage, and this tiny crack had spread so as to weaken the
structure enough for it to burst open.
The shape of the inspection hatch was the some as
that of the Comet's windows, and the widespread con-
clusion that circulated throughout the airline world was
that the windows were the problem. Arnold Hall's report
did not state this as the direct cause; but ironically, later
in 1955, an Italian fisherman trawled up a window that
proved the point. The investig(Jtion was not re-opened,
for, as Bishop shrewdly commented "Once you know Starboard rear corner of rear ADF aerial window Failure of ADF aerial window reinforcing plate.
what happened, it does not matter where it happened."
These two pictures are selected from Professor Arnold Hall's comprehensive report on the Comet G-ALYP crash.

29
 Structural Challenge
The Structural Record
Throughout the history of aircraft design, there have
been many instances when no amount of ground testing
could reproduce the strenuous on-line demands made
upon the structural stamina of an airframe during its
working life and in its working environment. This is par-
ticularly true of commercial airliners, which have to work
much longer and more continuously than most military
types, especially in the number of cycles-take-offs and
landings-experienced during the aircraft's life.
De Havilland was well aware of this aspect of
design criteria when it set itself the task of exploring the
hitherto unknown realm of flying operations at altitudes
of around seven miles above sea level, twice as high as
the typical operating levels of front-line aircraft such as
the Lockheed Constellation or the Douglas DC-6B.
The engineers and designers knew full well that they
were reaching beyond the limits of known experience. The
Comet would be flying outside the threshold of conven-
tional airliner maximum cruising altitudes. In the experi-
mental pressure rig, the windows had been subjected to
2,000 cycles from zero to 8 Ib/inch and back-far more
than any airliner had been tested for before. One window
had been subjected-successfully-to 100 Ib/inch. De Following the loss of the Comets becouse of structural failure, Comet 1 G-ALYU was installed in a water tank at Farnborough for pressure
Havilland had, innovatively, tested the forward section of testing under controlled conditions. As a result, metal fatigue, an unforeseen phenomenon, was found in the cabin. (RAE photo]
the fuselage in a water tank, at 8 Ib/inch, over 16,000
cycles. This was equivalent to 40,000 hours of flying, or world's first jet airliner. They had set themselves stan- were stepping boldly into the unknown, and they
the equivalent of about 18-20 years of airline service life dards that were far higher than any ai~ft manufac- encountered a metallurgical phenomenon that could not
at the time. This was twice the life of contemporary piston- turer had ever set before. Their problem was that they have been foreseen.
engined airliners, and to make sure, Bishop fixed the pres-
sure at 11 Ib/inch, and 12 at the windows.

The Judgement
The saddest aspect of the entire Comet accident affair is
that it is remembered for the square windows, as if this
was a design error. Such hindsight wisdom con'i"eniently
ignores the fact that there had never been a consensus
of design opinion on such a simplistic judgement. For
example, Douglas had already moved from the oval win-
dows of the un pressurized DC-4 to the rectangular shape
for all subsequent pressurized developments of the
famous DC-6 and DC-7 series.
But worst of all, there has always been a stigma
attached to the integrity of that great team which first The salvage operation off the coast of Elba was successful beyond expectations. Enough pieces of the Comet G-ALYP's w~eckage were
dreamed, then planned, and finally constructed the recovered to enable the investigation team to identify the cause of the massive disintegration of the aircraft's fuselage. (RAE photo]

30
Metal Fatigue
Operational Severity
The Farnborough report was a revelation that revolution-
ized aeronautical thinking worldwide. The discovery of
the effects of metal fatigue through repeated bending, of
a nature undetectable by the contemporary standards of
inspection of the time, had far-reaching effects. Repeated
pressurization cycles, by continual ascending to and
descending from seven miles high, had caused stresses
This drawing is a reconstruction of the pieces of G-ALYP that were salvaged, and illustrates the manner in which Professor Arnold Hall's
team was able to solve the mystery. Sherlock Holmes himself would have approved.
at the weakest points that had never been previously
identified, simply because no airliner had ever flown so
high or had been subjected to pressure extremes of such
magnitude or with such frequency. De Havilland's
exhaustive testing on the ground had not been able to
reproduce the exacting conditions of actual operation,
nor had it been able to imitate the severe extremes of
temperature encountered at 40,000 feet.
Bending Stress
After the publication of the Hall report, the whole world
became expert on the subject of metal fatigue. The ser-
vice life of metal clothes hangers and paper clips
declined as the lay public enthusiastically learned about
this newly-revealed metallurgical property. As Mike
Ramsden so neatly summed up the consequent industry
reverberations, a new vocabulary soon came into use at
Long Beach (Douglas), Burbank (Lockheed), Seattle
(Boeing) and Toulouse (Sud-Est); and no doubt also in
Moscow (Tupolev). Terms like fail-safe, multi-path load,
and damage tolerance came into daily parlance in the
design offices; while stressmen and draftsmen concen-
trated on crack-stoppers.
Hard Lesson
If anyone or any organization could claim to have stud-
ied at the School of Hard Knocks, every Comet team
member and every executive of the Hatfield manufac-
turer could claim to have been diligent students. By push-
ing its 106th design beyond the frontiers of known
aeronautical technology, de Havilland did sterling ser-
vice for the aviation world, at a price that is immeasur-
able. That world learned a priceless lesson from de
Havilland's unpredictable exposure to the inexorable
consequences of metal fatigue in a critical engineering
environment. And the lesson came at mimimal cost, at
least for the rest of the world. But unfortunately there
was no compensation at Hatfield.
Picking Up the Pieces
This could have been the end of the Comet story. But
remarkably, and with a display of what John Wayne
would have called True Grit (an expression that Richard
Clarkson would have deplored), Ron Bishop and his
team picked themselves up, took a firm grip, and started
allover again.
But by this time, the hitherto sceptical aircraft manu-
facturing world had changed its mind about the
prospects of civil jet airliners. The Boeing company took
an enormous gamble to develop the Boeing 707, and
Douglas abandoned its turboprop designs to launch the
DC-8. De Havilland's technical lead was lost.
31
Rolls-Royce Avon
Development History The first major development of
Both the de Havilland Goblin and Ghost engines were of the Comet was the Series 2, pow-
the centrifugal design. These were developed with less ered by four Rolls-Royce Avon
technical risk, but were limited in potential development. engines. The prototype conver-
As experience was gained with jet propulsion, the more sion was on the sixth airframe
efficient axial flow layout was chosen for the Rolls-Royce G-ALY!, which was retained by
Avon, which developed 6,500 Ib of thrust to power the de Havilland for development
improved Comet Srs.2. flying. (DH photo]
Rolls-Royce already had an impressive history of
rapid development of the jet engine. On 7 September
1946, a Gloster Meteor, fitted with two Derwent cen-
trifugal-flow engines, had established a world's speed
record of 618 mph. Meanwhile the more powerful Nene
was cleared up to 5,000 lb. static thrust, and powered
several of Britain's early jet fighters such as the Hawker
P.1040 and the Supermarine Attacker.

The First Axial-Flow Engine

The Avon R.A.2 axial-flow engine was first shown pub-
licly at the S.BAC. Farnborough Air Show in 1948. Hatfield-Built Comet 2 Prototype
Then, in an impressive display the following year, the for Ministry of Supply
English Electric Canberra, fitted with two Avons, made
its debut as Britain's first tactical bomber. On 21 Febru- (IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
ary 1951, a Canberra flew from Aldergrove, Northern 06006 2X G-AlYT 16.02.52 01.03.52 Retired & flown to Halton
r q

Ireland, to Gander, Newfoundland, to make the first non-
stop crossing of the Atlantic by a jet-propelled aircraft.
The Avon was manufactured in several plants, such
was the demand both from the military and from commer-
cial customers. Production was sub-contracted to the Bris-
tol and Napier engine companies, and to the Standard
Motor Company. It powered the Vickers Valiant four-
engined "V" bomber, the Hawker Hunter, the Supermarine
Swift, and the D.H.11 o. And in addition to all the Avon
Comets, it powered 230 Sud-Est twin-jet Caravel les-i nter-
estingly about the same total number of engines, not
including spares, as for the four-engined Comels.
The Avon Comets
The Comet 2 prototype, G-ALYT, was adapted on the
production line at Hatfield from the sixth airframe and
the slim Avons fitted easily into the existing engine bays
with only minor alterations to the wing structure.
Because of the increased thrust, requiring a greater
volume of air, the air intakes were enlarged, as well as
the jet pipes.
15.6.59 for ground inst as
7610M &broken up 9.67
The Comet 2 prototype was flown for the first time
by John Cunningham on 16 February 1952, the two-
hour flight going up to 25,000 feet. The aircraft was
used for a range of performance tests, establishing an
increased payload of up to 44 passengers and a range
increase to more than 2,500 miles because of the
increased fuel load. During the testing, a water spray rig
was installed in front of the intake to check performance
in icing conditions. As a result of the performance
improvements, B.O.A.C placed a launch order for 11
Comet 2s, with deliveries expected to begin at the end
of 1953. This was followed followed by an order from
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (B.C.PA).
On completion of the flight testing, G-ALYT was
flown by John Cunningham into the grass airfield at Avon-powered R.AF Comets were deployed all over the world.
R.A.F Halton on 15 June 1959 to provide an instruc- This photograph was taken at Gan, in the Indian Ocean (see also
tional aid to the R.A.F engineering trainees during its page 34).
retirement, before being scrapped in September 1967.

32
...
Comet 2 Series
Ha IfIe Id . BUI1 I Comel 25 0 r dere dbIV BO AC
(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Owner Fate
06023 2R G-AMXA 29.0B.53 17.02.56 RAF To XK655 with 51 Sq
06024 T2 G-AMXB 03.11.53 OB.06.56 RAF To XK669 with 216 Sq
06025 2R G-AMX( 25.11.53 12.07.57 RAF To XK659 with 51 Sq
06026 2E G-AMXD 20.0B.54 29.0B.57 MOS RA.29 test-bed, XN453
ot RAE Bedford 1.5.59 &
Fornborough, retired 2.73.
06027 2R G-AMXE 1B.07.55 19.04.57 RAF To XK663 with 51 Sq
0602B T2 G-AMXF 12.03.56 07.0656 RAF To XK670 with 216 Sq
06029 (2 G-AMXG 16.07.56 22.08.56 RAF To XK671 with 216 Sq
06030 (2 G-AMXH 21.0B.56 14.09.56 RAF To XK695 with 216 Sq
D6031 (2 G-AMXI 29.09.56 14.11.56 RAF To XK696 with 216 Sq
06032 (2 G-AMXJ 17.11.56 12.12.56 RAF To XK697 with 216 Sq
06033 2E G-AMXK 10.07.57 26.0B.57 MOS RA29 triols, to XV144
with BlEU 1B.11.66,
retired 5.71 ond broken
up RAE 8.75.

Following the cancellation of the Comet 2 fleet by

B.O_AC., ten Comet C.2s were ordered for 216
A number of Comet 2s had been completed for B.o.A.C when the earlier versions crashed. Comet 2 G-AMXD, seen here flying in for-
Squadron R.AF, and three Comet 2Rs were allocated to
mation with Comet 3 G-ANLO, was later converted to the 2E. (DH photo)
51 Squadron for highly secret signals duties, gathering
intelligence on the frequencies of hostile radars and
weapon systems_ They were flown unpressurised, and
retained the square windows, with cut-outs made in the
cabin for radomes covering the special antennas_ The
cabin was packed with special avionics, the aircraft
being delivered to Watton, for the fitment of the equip-
ment before starting operations in 1957 with 192
Squadron, which, was renumbered 51 Squadron in
August 1958. In March 1963 a move was made to
Wyton, where the Comet 2Rs were replaced by Nimrod
R.1 s in May 1974. One of the original Comet 2Rs was
destrored in a hangar fire at Watton, and replaced by
one 0 the 216 Squadron Comet C.2s, which was also
.......::.. .. :~""~."--:'::-'~-~ -- flown unpressuri5ed.
~:?--.=-::..~C:;"::"'_-_-"-'---

-~--_. .....;...- -- - - ' ----:: Meanwhile 216 Squadron took delivery in June and
July 1956 of a pair of Comet T.2s for conversion and
Comet G-AMXK was one of two Comet 2Es fitted with Avon G-AMXA would have been B.O.A.C.'s first Avon-powered Comet route training at Lyneham, Wiltshire, followed by the first
RA.29 engines in the outer nacelles for endurance testing with 2, but it never went into service with the airline. full standard C.2 in August. The T.25 were later returned
B.O.A.C. (DH photo) to de Havilland for completion to the full C.2 standard.

33
The Comet Flies On
Comet Mk.2s with the RAF

C/N Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate (IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fale
06023 2R XK655 29.08.53 17.02.56 Ex G-GAMXA, to 51 5q, retired to 06031 C2 XK696 29.09.56 14.11.56 Ex G-AMXI, to 216 5q Orion, wlu to
51rothallan 21.8.74, laler scrapped & Wallon 27.10.66, scrapped 1967.
nose 10 Gotwick
06032 C2 XK697 17.11.56 12.12.56 Ex G-AMXJ, 10 216 Sq Cygnus, 51 Sq
06024 T2 XK669 03.11.53 08.06.56 Ex-G-AMXB, to 216 5q. Tourus, AaM Wyton 1.3.67 & relired 12.73 & given
training ot Brize Norlon 1967 & burnl to air scouls, scrapped 12.87.
1968
06034 C2 XK698 13.12.56 09.01.57 To 216 Sq Pegasus, lasl C2 op 1.4.67,
06025 2R XK659 25.11.53 12.07.57 Ex G-AMXC, 10 51 5q, retired 13.5.74 to 27MU os 8031 M, 23MU 4.69 &
to Pomona Docks, Monchester, for use scrapped 4.73, ot 51 Alhon,
as reslaurant, scrapped 10.81 South Wales.
The RAF ordered ten modified (mainly ex-B.OAC) Comet 2s
06027 2R XK663 18.07.55 19.04.57 Ex G-AMXE, to 51 5q, deslrayed in 06035 C2 XK699 02.02.57 20.02.57 To 216 Sq Sagillarius, retired to
for 276 Squadron at Lyneham. Comet XK669 was the first, and hongar fire 3.6.59 01 Wallon. Henlow 13.6.67 as 7971 M, Lyneham
designated the first of a pair of T.2s for training. (MOD photo) gale 6.87
06028 T2 XK670 12.03.56 07.07.56 Ex G-AMXF, to 216 5q Corvus, retired
The Comets were used by the R.A.F for global operations 29.11.66 as 7926M & burned 01 06036 2 Slruclurallesl specimen (waler tonk)
as far away as the weapons test ranges at Woomera in Lyneham 1968
06037 C2 XK715 26.04.57 22.05.57 To 216 5q Columbo, 51 5q 5.9.62 to
Australia. Proving flights to Aden were made in Septem- 06029 C2 XK671 16.07.56 22.08.56 Ex G-AMXG, 10 216 5q Aquila, 51 5q Cosford 13.12.66 as 7905M, scrapped
ber 1956, followed by Singapore in October. Malta and 1963, retired 01 Topeliffe 14.11.66 as 5.73.
Cyprus were also regular destinations. With all ten 7927M, scrapped 1973.
06045 C2 XK716 06.05.57 07.05.57 To 216 Sq Cepheus, retired to Holton
Comet 2s delivered, 216 Squadron started full scale iet 06030 C2 XK695 21.08.56 14.09.56 Ex G-AMXH, to 216 5q Perseus, to 2R 7.6.67 as 7958M, scropped 1974.
transport operations in June 1957, supporting V-bomber wilh 51 5q 8.3.63, retired 10 Duxford
deployments and transport of troops and ships crews, as 10.1.75 & scrapped 1992. Nose 10 DH Note: All Halfield-built, aport from XK716, which was Ihe firsl and only Chester-built LMk.2
well as VIP transport for Government ministers and the Herilage 12.95.
Royal Family. As experience built up, Comet services
were extended across the North Atlantic, later extending
to Christmas Island, via San Francisco and Honolulu, in
support of the nuclear test programme. When the Christ-
mas Island service started on a regular basis on 1 Octo-
ber 1957, the 19,OOO-mile round trip was operated
once a week, involving a flying time of 45.5 hours.
The Comet cabin could be configured in the air ambu-
lance role, bringing smooth, quiet, and rapid transporta-
tion to injured or ill patients. Normally up to 36 patients
could be carried, six stretcher cases in the forward cabin,
eight reclining seats in the rear cabin, and the remainder
in standard rearward-facing trooping seats wi"th the med-
ical team and any other accompanying passengers. Christmas Island
In the first two years of operation, 216 Squadron nuclear testing \i;;o
Comets flew 5.5 million miles and 12,000 flying hours.
The aircraft operated world-wide in temperatures ranging RAF Darw;'-"_''''-''-'U;'1
from the Arctic cold of Labrador to the humid heat of Sin- Woomera Ro et
TRANSPORT COMMAND
gapore. Routes varied from 200-mile hop, from London Range Adellait~1!\
to Paris, to a 30,OOO-mile round-the-world flight. Comet 216 SQUADRON
4s joined 216 Squadron by mid-1962, and the last C.2 operations, June 1956-Aprilt967
REGP
Comet C.2 flight was made ?y XK698 on 1 April 1967.

34
What Might Have Been

Capital-Rirlines

Ploughshares Bacl( to Swords

When the B.O.A.C Comet 1s experienced structural failure early in 1954, three of the
Comet 2s had already flown for the airline and were being tested before delivery, with
other aircraft in an advanced stage of completion. With the withdrawal of the Certificate
of Airworthiness (C of A), and the subsequent accident enquiry, the B.O.A.C order was
cancelled for the Comet 2s and, after later modification, ten were delivered to the R.A.F.
However, two were initially retained in civil use with the cabin structure strength-
ened and oval windows fitted. Rolls-Royce Avon RA.29 engines were installed in the
outer nacelles for endurance and reliability testing of the engines before entering ser-
vice with B.O.A.C. Both Comet 2Es, G-AMXD and G-AMXK, were delivered to B.O.A.C
in August 1957 to be flown on typical routings planned for the Comet 4s.
On completion of these trials, G-AMXD was allocated to RAE Farnborough as
XN453 for long range radio aid development, and retired in February 1973. G-AMXD
was allocated to Smiths Instruments for Trident autopilot development before joining the
Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU) at Bedford from November 1966 as XV144. It
was finally retired in May 1971.
The trauma af the accidents and the enquiry was bad enough. De Havilland had been deprived of
So Near, Yet So Far technical leadership iust when it seemed to have been theirs for the taking. The effect on the market
When the Comet disasters of 1954 shattered de Havilland's dreams, the bitterest pill of all prospects was devastating. At the end of 1953, in addition to the 17 Comet 7sand .1 As delivered
was the cancellation of the Comet 3 by Pan American Airways (see page 37). Later on, and in service, 35 Comet 2s were on order: B.o.A.C 12, Air France 6, Panair do Brasil 4, UA. T. 3, .
in a repetition of disappointment, another attempt to break into the American market was cp.A. (Canada) 3, LA V. (Venezuela) 2, and JA.L. (Japan) 2; together with 11 Comet 3s: 1 Ministry
thwarted when a 1956 order for up to 14 short-range Comet 4As was lost when Capital of Supply, 5 B.OAC, Pan American 3 (see page 37), and Air India, 2. D.H. had seemed to have
Airlines, which had already purchased 60 Vickers Viscounts, ran into financial problems, the airline world at its feet, but a pleasant dream had abruptly became a nightmare, as all these
and the airline was taken over by United Air Lines in 1961. orders, from the four corners of the globe, were cancelled.

35
Comet 3
A Bigger Comet
The longer-range intercontinental Comet 3, for which de
Havilland had once held high hopes with a Pan Ameri-
can order, subsequently cancelled, had oval windows
from the start, even before the Comet 1 structural fail-
ures_ It was also powered with Rolls-Royce Avon 502
engines, developing 10,000 Ib thrust. The new aircraft
was assembled in the Experimental Department at Hat-
field, and was rolled out for engine runs as the enquiry
into the Comet 1s was starting. The Comet 3 had an
extended fuselage with room for up to 78 passengers,
equivalent to a payload of 20,000 Ib, with a stage
length of 2,400 miles. With a lower payload of 17,350
Ib, the Comet 3 could fly 2,600-mile stage lengths from
7,000 foot runways at sea level with temperatures up to
30 degrees C, the ultimate range being 4,250 miles.
This performance was achieved at a cruising speed of
500 mph. A recognition feature of this longer Comet 3
was a pair of pinion fuel tanks on the outboard wing
leading edge.
Maiden Flight
John Cunningham made the maiden flight of the Comet 3
G-ANLO on 19 July 1954 for 1 hr 25 min and after suffi-
cient hours were accumulated it appeared with the Comet 2
at the S.B.A.C display at Farnborough in September.
De Havilland announced the new Comet 4 in
March 1955, with a launch order for 19 aircraft for
B.O.A.C, including the structural test specimen. The
Comet 3 protoype was allocated to the aerodynamic
and performance testing, as the physical dimensions
were identical. During the latter part of 1956, the
Comet 3 was re-engined with Avon RA.29 engines, and
many of the systems were brought up to Comet 4 stan-
dard. Once the Comet 4s were entering the flight devel-
opment programme, G-ANLO's outer wings were
removed, and replaced by shorter span sections without
the pinion tanks. This was for aerodynamic testing of the
wings for the planned high-density Comet 4B for B.E.A.
In this form it was known as the Comet 3B, and flew for
the first time on 21 August 1958, carrying the early
B.E.A markings.
Flying Testbed
With testing for the Comet 4s completed, this hard-work-
ing prototype was allocated to the BLEU at Bedford as
XP915 where it was delivered in June 1961 for autoland
development. When retired in 1973, G-ANLO still had
a useful purpose, and was used at Bedford for foam
arrester trails in the runway overshoot situation, before
being dismantled and the fuselage being delivered to
Woodford for use as a Nimrod mock-up.

-
On its way around the world, the Comet 3 was greeted at Hon-
alulu with the traditional lei-necessarily a rather outsize one.

Hatfield-Built Comet 3 Prototype

for Ministry of Supply
(IN Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate
06100 3/3B GANlO* 19.07.54 21.06.61 Srs 4/4B dev, fo XP915 01
BlEU 21.6.61, retired
29.3.72 & broken up.
Fuselage 10 Woodford for
Nimrod mock-uo
06101 3 Strucluroltest fuselage, The sale Comet 3 prototype G-ANLO was aerodynamically similar to the later Comet 4, and was used on the development programme,
scrapped 8.66 of Hatfield. saving a great deal of time in the introduction of the Comet 4 to B.o.AC. (DH photo]

36
Almost a Breakthrough

PAN AKERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS

R.ED
In December 7955, John Cunninghom took the Comet 3 around the world, to the acclamation of many who had never seen a iet airliner.
As suggested in the picture opposite, there were still hours of glory to be savoured, even in times of disappointment.

37
First Trans-Atlantic Jet
B.OAC Comet 4s
G-APDB and
G-APDC inaugu-
rated commercial
iet trans-Atlantic
operations on 4
October 7958
between London
and New York,
almost a month
before Pan Ameri-
can World Airways
introduced the
Boeing 707.
(B.OAC photo)

De Havilland had the honour of flying into New York on the wings of B.O.A.C.'s Comet
4 when the British airline inaugurated the world's first trans-Atlantic jet service on 4
October 1958. But it was soon to be overtaken by Pan American's Boeing 707s. The
prototype of this great airliner, the Type 367-80, had first flown on 15 July 1954, five
years after the Comet's debut. The production version, the 707-120, first flew on 20
December 1957. Pan Am put it into service on 26 October 1958, and then trumped its
own ace with the 707-320 series on 26 August 1959. While the Comets held their own
for a while, they were soon eclipsed on the Atlantic by the larger and faster Boeing,
and the higher frequency offered by Pan American. B.O.A.C. was eventually to hit back
with the superb Super VC-l 0, by which time the Comets were transferred elsewhere.

COMET 4

~ -!!I- (]

Confidence was restored in the Comet by on order for 19 Comet 4s by B. 0. A. C, the first making its Comet 4 and Boeing 707
maiden flight from Hatfield on 27 April 1958 and seen here flying over Hatfield House. (DH photo) The world's first two commercial jetliners compared.

38
B.D.A.C. Comet 4
This is the exact aircmft used for the first
trmls-Atlmltic jet se/vice from London to
Nelv YOrk Oil 4 October 1958. LOlver
fuselage and IvillgS Ivere bright chrome.

BQA[
BaAc

Length 112 ft. Span 115 ft. 81 seats 503 mph

Rolls-Royce Avon 524 (10,500 lb. thrust) x 4 162,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 3,225 miles range

Comet 45 for BOAC

C/N Reg. F/f Did Built Fate (IN Reg. F/f Did Built Fate
6401 GAPDA 27.04.5B 24.02.59 H To Malaysian 9.12.65 as 9MAOA 6414 G-APDM 21.03.59 16.04.59 C lasl BOAC Comet service 24.11.65. To
MEA 3.67 as OD-AEV, MSA as 9VB8J 1.68,
6402 H Water tank lesl airframe at Hatfield
to Dan-Air 1.69
6403 GAPDB 27.07.5B 3D.D9.5B H To Malaysian 11.9.65 as9M-AOB
6415 G-APDN 29.05.59 10.06.59 H To Dan-Air 29.5.6B
6404 G-APDC 23.09.5B 30.09.5B H To Malaysian 10.65 as 9M-AOC
6416 G-APDO 29.04.59 14.05.59 C To Dan-Air 26.5.66
6405 G-APDD 05.11.5B lB.l1.5B H To Malaysian B.ll.65 as 9M-AOD
6417 G-APDP 29.05.59 11.06.59 C To MSA 30.11.67, to Dan-Air 13.2.69
6406 G-APDE 20.09.5B 02.10.5B C To Malaysian 5.10.65 as 9M-AOE
6418 G-APDR 09.07.59 20.07.59 C To CMA 3.12.64 as XANAZ
6407 G-APDF 11.12.5B 31.12.58 H To MinTech 1.3.67 as XVB14
6419 GAPDS 06.0B.59 14.0B.59 C To MinTech 30.1.69 as XW626
6409 G-APDH 21.11.5B 06.12.5B C Damaged beyond repair 22.3.64 at Comet J and Comet 4C
6420 G-APDT 02.10.59 19.10.59 C To CMA 25.11.65 as XA-POW The first "stretched" iet airliner
Singapore after undercarriage failure
while on charIer to Malaysian. 6427 G-APDG 12.11.59 2B.l1.59 C To Kuwait 19.12.66 as 9K-ACI, 10 Dan-Air
6412 G-APDK 02.01.59 12.02.59 C To Dan-Air 19.5.66
9.70 The world's first jet airliner had, between 1954 and
6428 G-APDI 07.12.59 lB.12.59 C To AREA Ecuador 13.3.66 as HC-AlT, wfu 1958, gone through a remarkable tran~formation from a
6413 G-APDl 27.04.59 06.05.59 H leased to EAA as 5Y-ADD, B.l 0.65 to 36 seat medium-hull aircraft to an 81 seat trans-Atlantic
3.6B, BU Miami 2.78
3.67, to Don-Air 14.1.69
6429 To Dan-Air 4.67
airliner. It had, within four years, more than doubled its
G-APDJ 23.12.59 11.01.60 C
size and more than doubled its range.

39
Aerolineas Argentinas Comet 4
Come145 an d 4C 5 f
orA rIneas Argenllnas
ero

C/N Sr, Reg. F/f Did Built Fate

6408 4 lVPLM 27.01.59 02.03.59 H los Tres Murios, re-reg lV-AHN, to
Don-Air 12.71 for spares &
scrapped 3.73
6410 4 lVPlO 25.02.59 18.03.59 H (ruz del Sur, lucero de 10 Turde,
AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS re-reg lV-AHa, desfroyed 20.2.60
ot Ezeizo, 8uenos Aires, during
(rew training
6411 4 lVPlP 24.03.59 02.05.59 H Ellucero del Albo, re-reg
lV-AHp, domoged beyond repair
27.8.59 near Asuncion
(See page 39 for Comet 4 specifications.) 6430 4 lVPOY 15.02.60 08.03.60 H Alborado, Arm Iris, rereg
lV-AHR, crashed 23.11.61 af
Aerolineas Argentinas introduced the Comet 4, from Buenos Aires to Santiago, on 16 April, 1959. This was the first 500 Poulo
jet airliner service in South America. On 19 May it began the first jet service across the South Atlantic to Europe, and 6432 4 lVPOZ 18.02.60 19.03.60 ( loslres Morios, Alborado, re-reg
on 7 June, with Comets to New York, started the first jet connection between North and South America. lV-AHS, to Don-Air 11.71 os
G-AZlW
6434 4 lV-PPA 02.07.60 26.D7.60 ( (entourus, re-reg lV-AHU, to
Don-Air 11.71 os G-AZIY
6460 4( lVPTS 21.08.61 27.04.62 ( Ex G-AROV, President Kennedy,
re-reg lV-AI8, to Dan-Air 11.71.

I /l'eerre II.

5antiagqi
~ ..,Rio de Janeiro.'!.:'
PAEROLINEAS ARGE~t ttJ(#'?
KK
a
.... ~ '\ ..
:.;~:. ';-. ;".' :

The first export customer for the Comet 4 was Aerolineas Argentinas, which placed an initial order for three aircraft. The airline later BUENO$iAI::&S COMET4 SERVICES 1959-60
added three more Comet 4s and aComet 4C. (DH photo)

40
Mexicana Comet 4C
a GUEST
11\
MEXICANA

~~~~~~~

length 118 ft. Span 115 ft. 101 seats 503 mph
Rolls-Royce Avon 5258 (10,500 lb. thrust) x 4 162,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 2,590 miles range

Ex-BOAC Comet 4s & Hatfield-Built Comet 4Cs for Mexicana

C/N Srs Reg. F/f Did Fate

CIA. MEXICANA
iIJ1Y
,.'

6418 XA-NAZ 09.07.59 03.12_64 Re-reg XA-NAp, 10 Chonnel 26_6]1 for spores, 510nsled Fire 5chool6]2 Chicago
XA-POW Re-reg XA-NAB, to LHR 19.12.69 os BOAC cobin services troiner, BAA 4.80 for fire rescue 10 August 1960
6420 02.10.59 25.11.65
lroining &mopped 8.90 Comet4c Services
:l.SO 500 750
6424 4C XA-NAR 31.10.59 08.06.60 Golden Aztec, retired Mexico City 12]0, to Westernoir as N888WA 17]]3, to Everett College
WA 1.80 and preserved with Seattle Museum of Flight
1960-1970
Scale-Miles
6425 4C XA-NAS 03.12.59 14.01.60 Withdrawn Mexico Cily 12.70, 10 Westernoir as N999WA 8]3, relired at Chicago O'Hore
5]9, and scropped 1993.
6443 4C XA-NAT 07.10_60 29.11.60 Golden Knighl, crash landing 01 Mexico City I.12.70, sold 10 Weslernoir as N777WA 5]3 &
preserved ollropuolo

Cia Mexicana's de Havilland Comet 4C, XA-NAT; wearing additional markings of Aerovias Guest,
which leased it for trans-Atlantic operations to Paris.

41
B.O.A.C. Comets Span the World

'd ohannesburg'
M on t eVI eo
uenos Aires BOAC COMET 4 ROUTES 1958-60
REGD

When B.O.A.C. had its full complement of 20 Comet 4s, it deployed them to all the six inhabited continents, serving 36 countries and 46 cities.

42
East Mrican Airways Comet 4

(See page 39 for Comet 4 specifications.)

East African Airways Corporation (E.A.A.C.) was the airline representing

Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar, then British territories, before they Chester-Built Comet 4s
became independent countries. The headquarters were in Nairobi, some 5,000 for East African Airways
feet above sea level, where B.O.A.C. had already amply demonstrated that the
Comet had no operating problems. E.A.A.C. had to cope with other high-alti- C/N Reg. F/f Did Fate
tude airports such as Johannesburg and Addis Ababa and "hot spots" Cairo 6431 VP-KPJ 14.07.60 25.07.60 Re-reg 5X-AAO, 10 Don-Air
and Khartoum. On 17 September 1960 the airline began service with Comet 16.11.70 for spores, scrapped
4s which took them all in their stride. 2.73
6433 VP-KPK28.07.60 06.09.60 Re-reg 5H-AAF, 10 Don-Air 1.71
for spores, scrapped 2.73
6472 VP-KRL 12.03.62 10.04.62 Re-reg 5Y-AAA, to Dan-Air 2.71
for spores, scropped 2.73

Comets ruled the East African skies, and

their versatility enabled the airline to 0jSCOle_
Miles
spread its wings, as it achieved a peak uti- 50
lization of 1 1 hours per day. When the
Super VC-1 Os came into service in Octo- 1000

ber 1967, the Comets still continued in

1500
service, some on charter flights for the
E.A.A.C. subsidiary, Seychelles-Kiliman- REGD
jaro Air Transport (SKAT).
East African Airways was the third, and final customer for the Comet 4 with a total order for
three aircraft. 5H-MF is pictured here at B.o.AC. 's base at London Airport.

43
Short Haul Comet
Comet 4Bs for British Euro

C/N Reg. F/f Did Buill Fale

6421 GAPMA 27.06.59 20.12.59 Sir Edmund Holley, losl BEA

-- r: Camel fit 31.10.71, retired 1.72

& scrapped 01 london, Heolhrow
7.72
6422 GAPMB 17.08.59 09.11.59 Wolter Gale, 10 Channel A/w
15.6.70
6423 GAPMC 01.10.59 16.11.59 Andrew Crommelin, leased 10
Olympic 5.60 10 9.69, 10 BEA
Airtours 12.3.70
6426 GAPMF 05.01.60 27.01.60 William Finlay, to BEA Airlours
1.4.70
6435 GAPMD 17.03.60 29.03.60 William Denning, 10 BEA Airtours
31.3.70
6436 GAPME 26.04.60 10.05.60 John TebbulI, to BEA Airtours
The short-haul Comet 4B performed well for B.f.A., even though the aircraft was not originally perceived as a short/medium-haul type. 7.8.70
6442 GAPMG 25.07.60 31.07.60 John Grigg, 10 BEA Airtours 16.3.70
6449 GARCO 05.04.61 13.04.61 John Hind, crashed in sea off
Turkey 12.10.67
6451 GARCP 11.04.61 19.04.61 William Brooke, 10 BEA Airtours
22.5.70
6452 GARJK 04.05.61 15.05.61 To BEA Airlours 5.3.70
6453 GARGM 27.04.61 06.05.61 To BEA Airlours 31.3.70
6455 GARJl 19.05.61 31.05.61 To Olympic 2.64, BEA Airtours
1.3.70
6456 G-ARJM 08.06.61 26.06.61 Crashed alter lokeoff from Ankara
21.12.61
6459 GARJN 21.07.61 04.08.61 To BEA Airlours 25.3.70

During the 1960s,

B. E.A. 's Comets were
familiar sights at all
the Mediterranean
resort airports.
B.f.A. 's partner
Olympic Airways
(see page 46) also
played its part.

44
B.E.A. Comet 4B
BEA's Comet 4Bs were ideutified exter-
Ilalry by the abseuce of Ivillg-moullted
'slipper tanks' for auxilimy fire!. Fuselage
leugth was ideJltical to the Comet 4C

Length 118 ft. Span 108 ft. 101 seats 532 mph
RollsRoyce Avon 524 (10,500 lb. thrust) x 4 158,000 lb. max. gross takeoff weight 1,840 miles range

British European Airways, the biggest intra-European airline, had seen Air France intro-
duce the world's first short-haul jet airliner, the Caravel Ie, in 1958, and was anxious not
to be left behind in technical leadership. Determined to "buy British" it had issued a
specification for a larger airliner, and the competition was won by de Havilland, which
set about designing and building the Trident, the world's first tri-jet.
Meanwhile-because the Trident was not to see service until 1964-B.E.A. was
able to introduce a short-haul version of the now established Comet. The Series 4B
traded range for payload, and was surprisingly successful, considering that the parent
Series 4 aircraft had been designed for trans-Atlantic service.
The 10 1-seat Comet 4B went into service on 1 April 1960, and was deployed
mainly on B.E.A.'s longer routes, to the eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf (the latter
routes withdrawn in 1962, because of duplication with B.O.A.C.); to the Iberian Penin-
sula and the resort islands offshore from north Africa; to Scandinavia; and to show the
flag in Moscow.
Even more surprisingly, as the Vanguard four-engined turboprops came in in 1961,
followed by the Tridents in 1964, the Comets were scheduled on to some unexpected
short-haul routes such as London-Paris, and domestic trunks to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
They were gradually replaced, and all were sold by 1970.
The only other airline to buy the Series 4Bs from Hatfield was Olympic Airways, London Heathrow was the hub of the 8.E.A Comet 48 European operations. G-APMC was delivered
which worked in close partnership with the British airline (see p.46) to the airline in November 7959. (8.E.A photo)

45
Olympic Airways Comet 4B

Length 112 ft. Span 115 ft. 81 seats 503 mph

Rolls-Royce Avon 524 (10,500 lb. thrust) x 4 158,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 3,225 miles range

Ha tfIe Id .BUIIt Come t 4B 5 fOf 01lymplC

. AIf ways

(IN Reg. F/f Did Fate

6437 G-APYC 07.04.60 26.04.60 Queen Frederica, re-reg 5X-DAK, to BEA 14.8.69, to Chonnel 26.1.70, then to Don-Air
6438 G-APYD 03.05.60 14.05.60 Queen Olga, re-reg 5X-OAL, to BEA 1.9.69
6440 G-APZM 30.06.60 14.07.60 Queen Sophia, re-reg 5X-DAN, 13.4.68; to BEA 3.70, 10 ChonneI14.5.70, then to Dan-Air
6447 G-ARDI 18.03.61 25.03.61 Princess Sophia, re-reg 5X-DAO, 12.4.68; to BEA 5.11.69, to ChonneI16.4.70 for spores &scrapped 6.72

Working close/y with 8EA, Olympic Airways a/50 ordered four Comet 485, 5X-DAO being the last
to be delivered in March 1967. This was the first one, Queen Frederica.
The Greek national airline was well aware that Athens was one of the preferred vaca-
tion destinations for northern Europeans seeking the sun. It was also well aware that
other airlines, especially B.O.A.C. and B.E.A., were winning most of the traffic with
their modern jets_ Accordingly, in April 1960, it leased two Comets from B_E.A., and
operated them in a pool arrangement-what today would be called code-sharing. Later,
it introduced its own Comets and was able to compete on equal terms with the larger
rival airlines.
Olympic's Comet route network is shown in the map on page 44, which illustrates
how Athens became a major southeast European jet hub. Indeed, as the next few pages
indicate, Comets of several airlines in the Middle East were also to become a familiar
sight at the Greek capital.

46
V.A.A. Comet 4C

(See page 41 for Comet 4C specifications.)

Chester-Built Comet 4Cs for Misrair/United Arab Airlines

C/N Reg. F/f Did Fate
6439 5U-AlC 21.05.60 100660 Crashed 2.1.71 8miles Nof Tripoli while preparing to land.
6441 5U-ALD 15.06.60 29.06.60 Lost in sea en route Bangkok 10 Bombay 28.7.63.
6444 5U-ALE 22.11.60 23.12_60 Crashed on toke-off Irom Munich 9.2.70.
6454 5UALL 30.05.61 12.06.61 Retired 2.6.75 at Coiro after 32,33211ying hours & dismantled by DonAir lor spores
6458 5UAlM 30.06.61 15.07.61 Retired 6.4.76, to DonAir as GBEEX 14.10.76 for spores & scrapped B.77 at Loshom
6462 5UAMV 25.03.62 06.04.62 Retired 31.5.76, to Don-Air as GBEEY 9.76for spores & mopped loshom 9.77.
6464 5UAMW 03.04.62 16.04.62 Crashed in Thai iungle 19.7.62 due to navigation error.
6466 5U-ANC 08.12.62 22_12.62 Retired 16.12.75, to DonAir as GBEEZ 9.76 lor spores & scrapped Loshom 11.77.
6475 5U-ANI 04.02.64 26.02.64 Crashed Addis Ababa 14.1.70.

An important Comet operator was the national airline of Egypt whose network, as the
map shows, was extensive throughout the Middle East, Europe, the Mediterranean, and
north Africa. Misrair (which had been fou_nded in 1931) introduced Comet 4Cs on the
London route on 16 July 1960, and quickly built up its fleet. In January 1961, the name
was changed to United Arab Airlines, to reflect the political union with Syria, and
U.A.A. Comets were soon to be seen as far afield as Moscow and Tokyo. Ten years
later, on 10 October 1971, the name was changed again, to Egyptair, and although
it had acquired .various Soviet aircraft .types and Boeing 707s, the Comets still con-
tributed substantially to the fleet productiVity. .

This Comet served

the Egyptian airline
for 14 years.

47
Middle East Airlines Comet 4C
@

(See page 41 for Comet 4C specifications.)

In January 1960 Middle East Airlines ordered four Comet 4Cs with an option on a fifth_
Operations were planned to start from the Beirut base in April 1961 to London, Frankfurt,
Athens and Bombay, followed by a number of other European and Asian destinations. To

~-
_r.-IIIIL_
;0<
,K ',I .,11,
' , Ii . !1~iI'l::
'1.r:
gain operational experience, M.E.A. leased a Comet 4 from B.O.A.C. before the early
delivery of its first aircraft on 15 December 1960. This allowed regular services to begin
iIiIiiiii" 'Ib:- . ': J !' : ~ J ." _&,I JIJL I on 5 January 1961, four months earlier than planned. The fifth aircraft on option was com-
.....-L 9HHHHU~~RU r!l1iiI ~.........=.- u~J ~. I-f- _ c . c1. -_1-.1:110'1_1:1 pleted, but not confirmed, and it was shown at the Farnborough Air Show in 1961 in
t=
'.
t!IIHM _ . . . . __ ftl,e _ "".
. . _ _ [ll-lll DI

'p"'-.I1-~-_ 'r.:~-
WHCOt.H
-.~:.!.! ~~.I1.~~ :,~~l
I _ _ IS.
TO UQ:AMON
. . . . . . . . _ _ iii c a . . !tI
I

'l~--- Ir~~ ~ DI
f

MEA. colours as G-AROV, and then sold to Aerolineas Argentinas as its sole Comet 4C.
~\~.;, 1l\5151iil' Despite the worsening political situation in the Middle East, M_E.A. continued
Comet operations, until three were written off on the ground at Beirut by an Israeli attack
on 28 December 1968. In an attempt to continue operations, one of the Kuwait Air-
ways Comet 4Cs was leased to operate with the surviving M.E.A. Comet but the air-
craft were withdrawn in 1971, a sad ending to what would otherwise have been a
sound commercial success.
_.
(
Middle East Airlines, based in Beirut, was a major Comet 4C operator; with a fleet of four new air- -,
craft. OD-ADQ was the second aircraft delivered, and was one of three Comet 4Cs written off at I'.-_ .... ~r . . ;;':->/ . .
Beirut by the Israelis in December 1968. (MEA pho~o) , " ~

/
- ..........

Comet 4Cs for Middle East Airlines

(IN Reg. F/f Did Built Fate
6445 OD-ADK 03.12.60 19.12.60 H Re-reg OD-ADR, written off 28.12.68 at Beirut by Israelis.
6446 OD-ADO 04.02.61 15.02.61 ( Written off 28.12.68 at Beirut by Israelis.
6448 OD-ADS 05.03.61 14.03.61 ( Written off 28.12.68 at Beirut by Israelis.
6450 OD-ADT 09.03.61 18.03.61 ( To Don-Air 4.10.73 for spores & scropped at Loshom 6.74

48
Sudan Airways Comet 4C

SUDAN AIRWAYS

ST-AAW
SUDAlfAIR

(See page 41 for Comet 4C specifications.)

Sudan Airways ordered

two Comet 4Cs. The first
was delivered in Novem-
ber 1962, the second
was the last Comet to be
built at Hatfield. The Tri-
dent assembly jigs were
located in the high bay at
the end of the production
line, and so the second
Sudanair Comet had to
be extracted from the pro-
duction line through a
side door, with tail ballast,
and the nose in the air.
SUDAN AIRWAYS
Sudanair started
operations early in
Comet 4c Services-'- I
1963. Its aircraft were
maintained br BEA at
1962-1970 /-~ I
Heathrow, unti they were KHARTOUM I
withdrawn in 1973 and I I

Hat ..Ie Id Bul"I t Comet 4Cs for Sudan Airwavs acquired by Dan-Air. AdGfis Ababo
Sudan Airways operated ".
I "\
C/N Reg. F/f Did Fate the last scheduled Comet
service into Heathrow in
6457 STAAW 05.11.62 14.11.62 Retired ot Khortoum 10.73, to Don-Air 2.6.75 os GASDl & dismonlled for spores 01 Loshom 10.75.
1972.
6463 ST-AAX 08.12.62 21.12.62 Losl Comet from Holfield, to Don-Air 21.8.75 os G-801f. '<EGD

49
World's First Executive Jet

. . ~ ~

(See page 41 for Comet 4C specifications.)

Royal Flight
A unique VIP Comet 4C, SAR-7, was ordered by Saudi Arabian Airlines for the Saudi
Royal Flight, mainly for the use of King Ibn Saud. The aircraft was built at Hatfield with
many interesting features, including a VIP front cabin, a bed, special toilets with gold
fittings, and tourist seats in the rear cabin. The exterior was painted in a striking green,
gold, and white finish (designed by John Stroud) with polished metal wings and lower
fuselage.
First flight was on 29 March 1962 with the C of A awarded on 30 April. Follow-
ing formal acceptance, the first overseas trip was to Pisa on 15 June, with local crew
training starting on 27 September until route training commenced on 20 October to
Rome. The aircraft made its first and only visit to Riyadh and Jeddah from 25 to 29
October and then continued to be operated from Hatfield around Europe as required.

Alpine Tragedy
On 19 March 1963 it left Hatfield for Geneva and flew the King from Nice to Geneva,
followed by two more departures from Geneva with luggage and additional personnel.
After the last departure, with the Hatfield crew of John Hanslip and Ken Rouse accom-
panying the Saudi crew, the Comet hit a ridge in the Alps near Cuneo, south of Turin,
in the early hours of the morning of 20 March, killing all on board. The aircraft was so
near the crest of the ridge that a substantial amount of the wreckage was found beyond
the impact point. The aircraft had flown approximately 168 hours.

Hatfield-Built Comet 4C for Saudia Arabian Roval Fliqht

(IN Reg. F/f Did Fate
Possibly the world's first executive iet was Comet 4C SA-R-7 for the Saudi Arabian Royal Flight. This
6461 SA-R7 29.03.62 15.06.62 Crashed 20.3.63 in the Alps near Cuneo during flight fram Nice to Geneva. aircraft was lost in the Alps near Cuneo on 20 March 7963. (DH photo)

50
I(uwait Airways Comet 4C
Kuwait's Comet 4Cs featured an extension of the HF antenna
from the forward mast to the top of the pertical fin's leading edge.
Note the absence of black horizontal stabilizer tips, standard on
all Comet 4 series. (See page 41 for Comet 4C specifications.)

KUWAIT AIRWAYS

Kuwait Airways was the last airline customer For the Comets, with an order For two 4Cs,
to gain experience with jet operations beFore the delivery of two Trident 1Es. The First
aircraFt, 9K-ACA, was delivered to Kuwait in January 1963, and leased to M_E.A in
January 1969, until acquired by Dan-Air in April 1971. The second aircraFt was deliv-
ered a year later on 2 February 1970, Flying the 3,169 miles From HatField to Kuwait
in a record time of 6 hours, 2 minutes. It was withdrawn From service at the end of 1970
and bought by Dan-Air in March 1971. The Trident 1Es joined the Kuwaiti Comets with
Kuwait Airways in March and May 1966, but the second Trident crashed after only a
month in service.

London Frankfurt

Beirut
Kuwait Airways Comet 4C 9K-ACE was delivered in December 1963. (DH photo)
0- _OKuwai~QKaraChi
.
CaIro 0 - - - -Doha
- 0------ 0
Ch ester" BUI"I t Comet " A"Irways
4Cs f or Kuwait Bombay
KUWAIT AIRWAYS
(IN Reg. F/f Did Fate
6465 9K-ACA 14.12.62 18.01.63 Leased 10 MEA to replace bombed aircraft 1.69 - 6.69. To Don-Air 4.71 as G-AYWX COMET 4C ROUTES 1965
6474 9K-ACE 17.12.63 02.02.64 Leased to MEA, 1.69 - 7.69. To Dan-Air 8.4.71 as G-AYVS

51
Malaysian Airways Comet 4

'"SA MALAYSIA-SINl3APDRE AIRLINES

(See page 39 for Comet 4 specifications.)

When B.O.A.C retired the Comet 4s towards the end of 1965, five of the earlier air-
craft were bought by Malaysian Airways, later to become Malaysia-Singapore Air-
lines. The aircraft were initially registered 9M-AOA to 9M-AOE, then with the political
separation of Malaysia and Singapore, three we're re-registered with MSA as 9V-BAS,
9V-BAT and 9V-BAU. In the first half of 1968, the three MSA Comet 4s returned to
Hawker Siddeley Aviation for modification and were sold to Dan-Air in October 1969.

"~:di~;;'bO 0

0...'
_ ""

_-:!-'-,--"......,.---'
Scale-Miles

Malaysian Airways (ex BOAC) Comet 4s

C/N Reg. Did Fate

6401 9M-AOA 09.12.65 Re-reg 9V-BAI wilh MIA 30.12.66, 10 DonAir 11.9 for spores, scropped 9.72 01 Loshom.
6403 9M-ADB 06.65 To DonAir 10.69 os GAPDB
6404 9M-AOC 14.10.65 Re-reg 9V-BAT wilh MIA 30.12.66, 10 Don-Air 8.69
6401 9M-AOD 08.11.65 To DonAir 10.69 os G-APDD Among the second owners of B. o.A C Comet 4s was Malaysian Airways, later to become Malaysia-
6406 9M-AOE 05.10.65 Rereg 9V-BAU wilh MIA 30.12.66, 10 DonAir 11.69
Singapore Airlines. Comet 4 9V-BAT was previously G-APDC with B.o.AC., and later entered ser-
vice with Dan-Air. (Philip Birtles photo)

52
Soldiering On

After B.E.A retired the Camet 4Bs, a number entered service with
Channel Airways acquired a mixed fleet of ex-B.E.A and the charter airline B.E.A Airtaurs, based at Gaiwick. (Birtles phota] One that got away. Ex-B_ O.A. C Comet G-APDI was said to AREA
-Olympic Comet 4Bs before it went bankrupt an 1 February 1972. of Ecuadar as HC-ALT.
ExBEA Comet 4Bs for BEA Airtours

Channel Airways (IN Reg. Did Fate AREA (Ecuador)

Southend-based Channel Airways had developed a Recognizing the Comet's superb high-altitude field per-
6423 G-APMC 12.03.70 To Don-Air 2.11.73 for spores
market for domestic and cross-Channel scheduled ser- formance, one of the small Ecuadorian airlines tried to
6426 G-APMF 01.04.70 To Don-Air 30.1.73 for spores enter the jet arena. One Comet was delivered to Quito
vices. During 1970 and 1971, it leased five stored ex-
BEA and ex-Olympic Comet 4Bs to operate-somewhat 6435 G-APMD 31.03.70 To Don-Air 12.9.72 (9,000 ft. altitude) in June 1966. It served briefly on a
erratically-inclusive tour charter flights. It based its jet 6436 G-APME 07.08.70 To Don-Air 24.2.72
route to Miami, via Bogota, but operated for only a few
fleet at Stansted, which was better suited for jet opera- months.
6442 G-APMG 16.03.70 To Don-Air 19_1.73
tions. These included departures from Manchester as
6451 G-ARCP 22.05.70 To Don-Air 19.12.73
well as Stansted and the Comets retained the basic BEA
or Olympic colour schemes, with Channel titles added. 6452 G-ARJK 05.03.70 To Don-Air 5.10.73
Channel Airways went bankrupt on 1 February 1972 6453 G-ARGM 31.03.70 To Don-Air 1.11.73 for spores
and the remaining four Comets in the fleet were sold to
6455 G-ARJl 01.03.70 To Don-Air 9.11.73 for spores
Dan-Air in April.
6459 G-ARJN 25.03.70 To Don-Air 15.2.73
BEA Airtours
With the build-up of the Trident fleet, BEA started to retire cated to the airline's holiday charter division, BEA Air- Air Ceylon
its Comet 4Bs early in 1969, storing some of them at tours, based at Gatwick. Seven aircraft were delivered in Colombo was a key staging point on the former British
Cambridge. Of the original 14 aircraft, ten were allo- March, with the other three following soon after, to serve "Empire" routes to eastern Asia. Air Ceylon took advan-
European holiday destinations_ The Comets remained in tage of its geographical position and made a leasing
service with BEA Airtours for three seasons, before being agreement with B.O.A.C. between 30 March 1962 and
ExBEA & Olympic Comet 4Bs to Channel Airways 31 March 1971, operating a Comet route to London.
sold to Dan-Air at the end of 1973, four of the aircraft
C/N Reg. Did Fate being broken up for spares at Lasham without being put
6422 G-APMB 15.06.70 Airline bankrupt 1.2.72 & to Don-Air 9.4.72 ,
into operation.
6436 G-APME Not delivered, to Don-Air 24.2.72 ExBOAC Comet 4s to Aerovias Ecuatorianas (AREA) AIRVt
6437 G-APYC 26.01.70 Airline bankrupt, to Don-Air 6.3.72
643B G-APYD Airline bankrupt, 10 Don-Air 14.4.72
C/N Reg. Did Fate 'SEYLON
26.01.70
6428 HC-ALl 13.3.66 To Quito, grounded & stored Miami 3.68, Ghana Airways also leased a B.O.A.C. Comet 4 for a
6440 G-APZM 14.05.70 Airline bankrupt, to Don-Air 17.4.72 scrapped 2.78
short period in March 1961, to fly President Nkrumah to
6447 G-ARDI 16.04.70 To Southend for spores 21.9.71, scropped 4.72 6429 Not delivered & sold to Don-Air the United States.

53
The Biggest Fleet
Dan-Air Comet 4, 48, & 4Cs Operated or Owned by Dan-Air
During the post-war period, from 1953 to the early
1960s, Dan-Air Services, of London, one of Britain's C/N Srs Reg. Did Fate C/N Srs Reg. Did Fate
leading (non-state) independent airlines, had developed 6403 4 G-APDB 15.10.69 last Srs 4commercial service 13.11.73 & retired to 6434 4 G-AZIY 05.11.71 last Comet 4 commercial flight 26.11.73, retired and dis
a mixed business of short-haul scheduled services, inclu- Duxford 12.2.74 mantled for spares 3.77
sive tour (IT) charters, and ad hoc freight and passenger 6404 4 G-APDC 08.69 Re-entered service 7.11.70, retired 17.4.73 & scrapped at 6435 4B G-APMD 09.09.72 Retired for spores 10.75 at loshom & mopped
work. The name Dan-Air, incidentally, is derived from lasham 4.75
6436 4B G-APME 11.04.72 Retired 2.5.78 & scrapped 10.78
Messrs Davis and Newman, owners of a successful ship- 6405 4 G-APDD 16.10.69 leased to EAA as 5YAMT 28.12.7022.2.71. To DonAir,
ping and brokerage company. It acquired two Comet 4s 6437 4B G-APYC 06.04.72 Retired to Kemble 4.12.78 for SAS training & scrapped
damaged when nose wheel collapsed at Saltzburg 20.8.72,
from B.O.A.C. in 1966. They were the first jet aircraft 19B2.
& ferried to lashom for spores 24.8.
bought by a British airline specifically for IT charter 6438 4B G-APYD 14.04.72 last service 23.10.79 & retired to Science Museum stare ot
6406 4 G-APDE 19.11.69 leased to EAA as 5YAlf 2.70 1.71. To Dan-Air Comet
flying. Eyebrows were raised in British airline circles, Wroughton 1.11.79 for preservation.
Training Unit at Teesside, last flight 4.5.72, retired 2.4.73
but Dan-Air went on to buy a total of 48 Comets of all & scropped at lasham 6440 48 G-APZM 17.04.72 Retired 11.78 & dismontled for spares ot lashom 9.80
types, rolling over the fleet so that at the end, only
6412 4 GAPDK 09.05.66 leased to EAA as 5YAlD 9.1.70 - 21.3.70. To Dan-Air, last 6442 4B G-APMG 19.01.73 Retired 11.77 & dismantled for spares at Lasham 4.78
Comet 4Cs were operating. Some of the aircraft were
fit 7.5.73 & to Lasham air scouts, scrapped 9.80 64S1 4B G-BBUV 22.10.73 Retired 12.7B at lasham & dismantled for spares 10.79
acquired just for the spare parts and never saw service.
6413 4 G-APDL 14.01.69 leased to EAA as 5Y-ADD late 1965, to Dan-Air, damaged 6452 4B G-ARJK 01.10.73 Last fit 1.11.76 to lasham, dismantled for spares 10.77
An Impressive Record beyond repair at Newcastle 7.10.70 in wheels up landing
during training 6453 4B G-ARGM 01.11.73 Stared ot loshom until retired 19.9.74 & mopped 6.7S
Between 1966 and 1980, the Comets carried more than
8 million passengers, mostly on IT flights, although the 6414 4 GAPDM 01.69 (leased to MEA as ODAEV 3.67, leased to MSA as 9V-BBH), 6455 4B G-ARJl 08.11.73 Stored ot loshom, retired 19.7.74 & dismantled for spares
aircraft also operated some scheduled services. They to Dan-Air with Catering Training Unit at Gatwick 5.74, now 6457 4C G-ASDZ 04.08.75 Retired & dismontled for spores 10.75
were inexpensive to buy, and so could be operated at a with BAA far graund training
6459 4B G-ARJN 15.02.73 Retired 3.78 & mopped Loshom 10.78
low rate of utilization, without economic penalty. Even 6415 4 G-APDN 0568 (Sold to CAUSA Uruguay), to Basle 7.6.67 for Globe Air, to
loshom for stare lote 1967, to DonAir, crashed 3.7.70 in 6460 4C G-AROV 20.10.71 Retired 3.78 & scrapped loshom 10.78
the fuel crisis of 1973 did not spell the end of the
Comets. Although they burned twice as much fuel as the mountoins neor Borcelono 6463 4C G-BDIF 21.08.75 Retired 11.79 & scropped loshom 10.80
more modern types, such as the BAC One-Eleven, they 6416 4 G-APDO 25.05.66 lost flight 2.7.73, scrapped lashom 6.74 6465 4C G-AYWX 29.03.71 Retired 3.78 & mopped losham 10.7B
had better range; and so Dan-Air could develop the
6417 4 G-APDP 13.02.69 (To MSA os 9V-BBH 1.68), to Don-Air until 22.3.73 & to 6467 4C G-BDIT 0409.75 Retired 11.80, to Blackbushe 6.81 & mopped 7.84
growing winter market, to the Canary Islands, for exam- RAE os XX944, retired 4.75
pie. They were also useful in developing IT services from 6468 4C G-BDIU 03.09.75 Retired 10.80 &mopped Bitteswell 7.81
regional airports, where flying was concentrated at 6422 4B G-APMB 09.04.72 from Chonnel to DanAir, retired 2B.I2.78 at GOlwick
6469 4C G-BDIV 03.09.75 Retired 11.79 & mopped ot losham
weekends, and where their impressive airfield perfor- 6423 4B G-APMC 02.11.73 Retired 19.9.74 & dismontled for spores
6470 4C G-BDIW 03.09.75 lost Comet commerciol fit 9.11.80, & retired to Dusseldorf
mance was invaluable. 6426 4B G-APMF 31.01.73 Retired 11.74 & dismantled for spores 7.2.81 for preservation.
6427 4 G-APDG 18.12.70 (leased to Kuwait A/ws 7.66, os 9K-ACl12.66, leased to 6471 4C G-BDIX 03.09.75 Retired 10.80 & flown to Scoltish Museum of flight ot Eost
The Last Commercial Comet Flight MEA 1.69, wfu 12.69 at Beirut), To Don-Air 9.70, last fit Fortune 30.9.81 for preservotion.
Dan-Air's last Comets were the five ex-R.A.F. Comet C4s 2.5.73, scrapped losham 6.74.
of 216 Squadron, immaculately maintained aircraft, 6474 4C G-AYVS 23.03.71 Retired Loshom 1.77 &mopped 4.7B
with low flying hours, and which entered service with 6429 4 G-APDJ 14.04.67 Retired 28.11.72, dismantled loshom 6.74 for spares
Dan-Air in 1975. One of these, G-BDIW, had the dis- 6432 4 G-AZlW 23.11.71 Retired 2.3.73 & dismantled lashom for spares
tinction of operating the last commercial Comet flight-
by any airline-on 9 November 1980. Note: Additionally, the follOWing aircraft were acquired by Dan-Air, just for the spore parts, between 1969 and 1976: 6401 (ex-BOAC G-APDA); 6408 (ex-Aero
Dan-Air's Comets have survived at a number of Arg. LV-AHN); 6431 (ex-EAAC 5X-AAO); 6433 (ex EAAC 5X-AAF); 6447 (ex-BEA G-ARDI); 6450 (ex-MEA OD-ADT); 6458, 6462, 6466 (ex-Egyptair SU-ALM, AMV,
sites, including Duxford, Cambridgeshire; Wroughton, ANC); 6472 (ex-MSA VP-KRL).
Wiltshire; and East Fortune, Lothian.

54
Dan-Air Cornet 4 Series

DAN - AIR LONDON

Dan-Air used all three versions of the Comet 4, and the

major colour schemes from each era of the airline's histOlY
are represented here. Note hO/I' dralllatical[y the different
a"
~g.IIII iDiiiAilN.-II!!iAii'i
N
DON

markings affect the looks of the similar[y-shaped aircraft.

(See page 62 for specifications)

This night-time photograph, taken at Tees-side Airport, in northeast England, emphasizes the 24-
hour nature of Dan-Air's charter services, and the extension of holiday routes from provincial cities.

55
Last of the Air Force Comets
The roomy cabin and long endurance of the Comet Srs 4 proved to be ideal for vari-
ous military uses as a high speed transport and flying laboratory.
Having gained experience on world-wide operations with the Comet 2s, 216
Squadron added a fleet of five Comet C.4s, a militarised version of the civil Comet 4C.
The order for the R.A.F was announced on 5 September 1960, the new aircraft to be
operated by 216 Squadron at Lyneham alongside the existing C2s, but on longer-
range routes. All five of the Comet C4s were built at the Chester factory, the first making
its maiden flight in November 1961. Following acceptance and crew training at Hat-
field, the first delivery to Lyneham was made in February 1962, with all the aircraft in
service by June.
These Comets were used on world-wide operations for trooping and regular ser-
vices, and a safety feature was the installation of rearward facing seats. The Comet
C4s remained in operation until 216 Squadron disbanded on 30 June 1975, the fleet
being retired to 60 MU at Leconfield, Yorkshire. The first aircraft, XR395, made a com-
memorative flight from Lyneham to Leconfield via Heathrow and Hatfield on 2 July. All
the aircraft were acquired by Dan-Air in September and flown to Lasham for conversion
to civil operations.
Three ex-B.O.A.C Comet 4s were used as flying laboratories, two for trials that
included the AEW3 programme, and one for radio and communications equipment devel-
opment. Comet 4 G-APDF was sold to the Ministry of Technology as XV814 and operated
at R.A.E Farnborough with the radio department, later acquiring a Nimrod fin and
painted in a white, blue, and red scheme. It was retired from service at the end of 1992,
and flown to Boscombe Down in January 1993 to provide spares for Comet 4C XS235
Canopus, the last flying Comet. When Canopus was withdrawn from service, XV814 was
scrapped in August 1997, some of the parts going to Seattle to help in the restoration of
the ex-Mexicana Comet 4C that is being restored for the Seattle Museum of Flight.
Comet 4 G-APDP had already passed from B.O.A.C to Dan-Air when it was
acquired by Farnborough as XX944 in March 1973. It was used for a range of equip-
ment testing at the RAE before being withdrawn from use at Farnborough in 1976, and
later broken up.
Comet 4 G-APDS was allocated to the Nimrod AEW.3 programme, having been
originally bought by MinTech as XW626 in January 1969 and flown from Heathrow to
Chester on 27 January, to resume flying after conversion work on 16 June 1972. It was
later delivered to Woodford for additional conversion work as a trials aircraft for the
AEW.3 programme, and fitted with a representative nose radome for radar develop-
ment. It was rolled out on 1 March 1977, and flew for the first time with the new radome
on 28 June. With the production Nimrods AEW3s entering the flight development
period, XW626 was retired in August 1981, making its last flight to Bedford, where it
was stored until it was scrapped in April 1994, when the airfield was about to close.

Chester-Built Comet C.4s for

216 Squadron at Lyneham
(IN Reg. F/f Did Fate
This was a Comet, with a Nimrod fin and rudder, and inevitably became known as the "Con rod. " The
6467 XR395 15.11.61 01.06.62 Retired 2.7.75 to 60 MU leconfield, 10 Don-Air as Comet provided a roomy long-range platform for a number of military uses. Ex B.o.AC Comet 4
G-BDIT 9.75 G-APOF was delivered to Farnborough as XV814 in October 1968 for communications development
646B XR396 28.12.61 12.03.62 To 60 MU 3.7.75, to Don-Air as G-BDIU 9.75 work. (BAe photo)
6469 XR397 17.01.62 15.02.62 To 60 MU 30.6.75, to Don-Air as G8D1V 9.75
6470 XR398 13.02.62 16.03.62 To 60 MU 1.7.75, 10 Don-Air as G-BDIW 9.75
6471 XR399 20.03.62 26.04.62 To 60 MU 4.7.75, 10 DonAir as GBDIX 9.75

ExBOAC Comet 4s Used by MOD for Equipment

Development
(IN Reg. Did Fate
6407 XV814 07.10.68 To RAE Fornborough Radio Depl, lost flight to Bascombe Down
29.01.93 for spores & scrapped 7.97
6417 XX944 22.03.73 To RAE Fornborough for equipment trials, refired 1976 & scrapped
(onvelled to AEW lriols oircraN wilh nose rodome, flf from
In addition to the fleet of Comet C.2s, 216 Squadron, R.AF, operated five Comet C.4s from Lyne-
6419 XW626 06.77
Woodford 28.6.77, lost flI28.8.81, retired & slored 8edford, ham. The first of these was XR395, seen on finals at Hatfield on Open Day, 1 July 1967. (RAE photo)
scrapped 4.94

56
Canopus
This Comet 4C lvas e/laluated bjl the
USAF Test Pilot School at EdJvards
AFE, Calijomia, during tlJl Americau
tour iu the SUIJ/iller of 1994.

CANOPUS

Length 118 ft. Span 115 ft. 101 seats 503 mph
RollsRoyce Avon 525B (10,500 lb. thrust) x 4 162,000 lb. max. gross take-off weight 2,590 miles range

Comet 4C XS235 was built at Chester and made its first flight to Hatfield on 26 Sep-
tember 1963 where it was fitted out with racks in the cabin for the navigation equip-
ment. It also had a long bath-shaped radome on the underside of the fuselage to cover
any antenna installed (this was later removed). It was delivered to the A.&A.E.E
Bascombe Down on 2 December where it became a flying laboratory.
Named Canopus, the aircraft was fitted with a reference standard inertial naviga-
tion system. The most demanding area of operation was over the magnetic North Pole.
However, as the last Comet still flying, it was subject to a high level of monitoring
of the structure by non-destructive testing, and although it had only flown 8,500 hours,
two of the Avon engines were close to achieving their life expectancy and no overhaul
facilities remained. Canopus therefore made its last operational flight on 14 March
1997. Appropriately, on board for this final flight was John Cunningham, who had
made the maiden Flight of the prototype almost 48 years previously. This was a Fully
working mission, a navigation exercise overFlying Cardiff, Chester, Warton, Wittering,
Brize Norton and Lyneham. Two shorter flights Followed overhead Exeter and Bristol
beFore the Final landing at Bascombe Down.
Canopus was then offered For sale by tender, while the racks in the cabin were
stripped out. The bid from the de Havilland Heritage was accepted, and (accommoda-
tion not readily available at HatField) the Comet was flown into Bruntingthorpe, Leices-
tershire, on 30 October 1997. It is maintained in Functional order by the British Aviation
Heritage Group, in the hope that one day it may once again take to the air. Still, after more than 30 years of service life, and almost half a century after its original design, the
last flying Comet was cruising elegantly and maiestically over the English countryside.

57
The Mighty Hunter
The world's first, and still the only, jet maritime recon-
naissance aircraft, the Nimrod, was launched by an
announcement in the British Parliament on 2 February
1965. The airframe was based on the well-proven
Comet 4, but the power was from four Rolls-Royce Spey
engines which not only gave increased thrust, but
improved fuel economy. By using all four jet engines, the
Nimrod is able to transit rapidly at medium altitude to the
patrol area, and then by stopping two of the engines,
can cruise for a long duration at low level in the search
profile. The initial order was for 38 Nimrod MR.1 s, in
addition to the last two Comet 4Cs on the production line
at Chester which were converted for development air- The Comet 4 airframe proved ideal for adaptation to the Nimrod,
craft. A further eight Nimrods were ordered in January the world's only ;et maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Nimrod
1972, most of these low-life aircraft being converted to MR.7 XV254 is pictured here as if in its normal environment,
the Airborne Early Warning (AEW.3) variant.
seeking out hostile submarines. (BAe photo)
The first Nimrod was delivered to the Maritime
Operational Training Unit (MOTU), later 236 Opera-
Nimrod Production for the RAF from Woodford
tional Conversion Unit (OCU), at St Mawgan, Cornwall,
on 2 October 1969, followed by seven more aircraft, to Serial F/f Did
start the crew conversion programme. The first squadron
XV226 28.06.68 01.73
delivery was to 201 Squadron at Kinloss, northeast Scot-
land. Nimrods served with 236 OCU and 42 Squadron XV227 28.01.69 06.69
at St Mawgan until all Nimrods were based at Kinloss in XV228 13.03.69 06.06.73
September 1992, when the OCU was numbered 42 (R)
Squadron. Meanwhile Kinloss had been the base for the XV229 09.05.69 1969
XV230 07.08.69 02.10.69
120, 201, and 206 Squadrons, while 203 Squadron
XV231 16.10.69 25.11.69
had been based in Malta from July 1971, until with- XV232 25.11.69 25.01.70
drawal in December 1977. XV233 24.12.69 25.03.70
Starting in April 1975, 35 Nimrod MR.1 s were con-
verted to MR.2s at Woodford, near Manchester. This XV234 12.02.70 05.70
took some nine years, and consisted mainly of updated
avionics. The Nimrod maritime reconnaissance force is
XV235 13.02.70 04.70
now concentrated in the Kinloss Wing with the aircraft XV236 19.03.70 05.70
rarely allocated to a particular unit identity.
As well as the traditional maritime reconnaissance XV237 06.03.70 05.70
role, Nimrods are also used in rescue missions, and for XV238 03.04.70 25.06.70
coastal patrol, until a more cost-effective aircraft is allo- XV239 21.05.70 21.08.70
cated to this task. In 1982 Nimrods played a vital role
XV240 04.0670 17.07.70
in the Falklands Campaign when they were based on XV241 30.0670 16.09.70
Ascension Island. The aircraft were fitted, at short notice, XV242 18.09.70
with air-to-air refuelling probes, to provide the desired
endurance for other operational aircraft.
XV243 11.70
XV244 11.70
(continued)
Serial F/f Did Fate
XV245 12.70 201 5q, 51 Mowgan 1980, 42 Sq 1982, SI Mawgan 10 Woodford
for lasl conversion 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XV246 12.70 201 Sq, 120 Sq 10.80,10 MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XV247 12.70 St Mawgan 1976, slored at Kinloss, dismanlled &fuselage 10
Hum 2.97 for conversion 10 Nimrod 2000
XV248 01.71 201 Sq, 42 Sq 1973,10 MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XV249 02.71 201 5q, 42 Sq SI Mawgon 1975, 203 Sq luqa 1977, slored Kin
loss by 9.92 to RI 01 Woodford os replacement for XW666
XV250 02.71 201 Sq, 120 Sq 9.71, 203 5q luqo 23.4.721974, 201 Sq 1977,
St Mowgan 1981,10 MR 2 Kinloss Wing.
XV251 03.71 120 Sq, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XV252 03.04.71 42 Sq SI Mawgan, 201 Sq Kinlossl981, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XV253 04.71 42 Sq, SI Mowgan Wing, Kinloss Wing, ground training 01 Kinloss,
derelicl 1996
XV254 28.05.71 42 Sq, 120 Sq 1977,10 MR2, 42 Sq 1982, Kinloss Wing.
XV255 06.71 42 Sq, 236 OCU 1973-'76, 10 MR2 Kinloss Wing.
XV256 06.71 42 Sq, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing, crashed ot Kinloss after bird strike
on loke off 17.11.80, pilot &co-pilot killed, bUI remoinder survived.
XV257 08.71 42 Sq,203 Sq 10.71, 201 Sq 1974, 10 MR2, SI Mowgon Wing, in
flight engine fire 3.6.84, stored Woodford for spores &scropped 3.92
XV258 26.08.71 To Kinloss, 203 Sq 10.71, Kinlossl974, St Mawgon 1980, to
MR2 Kinloss Wing.
XV259 30.10.71 To St Mowgan, 203 Sq 1974,206 Sq 1977,10 MR2, Kinloss
Wing, 10 AEW.3, to Waddinglon 2.87, to Abingdon 10.1.89 &
Fate scropped 10.91
XV260 22.11.71 To Kinloss, SI Mowgon 1972, 203 Sq 27.4.72, Kinlossl981, to
Engineering systems dev, Iropicol &cold weolher lriols, Kinloss, MR2 Kinloss Wing_
51 Mowgon 1976-1982, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing. XV261 20.12.71 To Kinloss, 203 Sq 27.4.72, Kinloss 1973, 10 AEW.3, 10
Armomenl dev, 51 Mowgon, 10 MR2 &did Kinloss Wing. Waddinglon 1987,10 Abingdon 14.7.87 &scrap by 8.89
A&AEE service lriols, 203 5q 1974, Kinloss1981, 10 MR2, Kinloss XV262 02.72 To Kinloss, 51 MaV/gon 1979, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing, 10 AEW.3, 10
Wing. Woddinglon 23.3.87, 10 Abingdon 8.87 for spare5 &scrapped 4.92
To A&AEE for comms &equipment trioIs, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing. XV263 23.8.72 To Kinloss, 203 Sq 18.9.72, 10 AEW.3, 10 Woddington 2.86 10
To 236 OCU 5t Mowgon, 42 5q 1974-'76, to MR2, Kinloss Wing. finningley 14.7.87 for ground lroining, dismonlled 9.95 &paris
236 OCU, to MR2, Kinloss Wing. to fR 01 Hum on 20 Moy 1996 for Nimrod 2000 progromme
236 OCU, 203 5q luqo 1972-'75, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing. XZ280 MR2, 201 Sq, 10 AEW.3, to Waddinglon 1.87, to Abingdon
236 OCU, Kinloss 3.72, 5t Mowgon 1980, 42 5q 1982, MR2 10.1.89 &scropped 4.92
Kinloss Wing_ XZ281 To 3rd AEW.3, IIf 7.81 rodor dev, to Woddington4.2.87, 10
236 OCU-1976, 120 5q 1982, 10 MR2, stored 01 Kinloss by Abingdon 19.12.88 &scrapped 11.92
9.92, dismonlled &fuseloge to Hurn 2.97 for conversion 10 XZ282 MR2 to Kinloss, 10 AEW.3, to JTU Woddington 19.12.86, 10
Nimrod 2000 KinlossI4.9.89 for spores &scropped 11.91
236 OCU, 42 5q 1973, 51 Mowgon 1980, MR2, Kinloss Wing_ XZ283 To AEW.3 delivered to JTU Woddington 11.85, 10 Abingdon
236 OCU, 201 Sq KinlossI5.7.70, lsi conversion to MR2 ot 9.12.88 &scropped 11.92
Woodford 9.77, delivered to Kinloss 23.8.79. XZ284 Compleled os MR2
236 OCU 10 1976, to MR2 XZ285 MR2 to Kinloss, 10 AEW.3 firsl production, A&AEE, 10 JTU
To 201 Sq Kinloss, to MR2 Kinloss Wing, scropped 10.92 Woddinglon 12.84, to Abingdon 31.10.88 &scropped 5.92
201 Sq, St Mowgon 1976, to MR2 Kinloss Wing, croshed 2.9.95 XZ286 16.07.80 1st conversion to AEW.3, for performonce ond hondling dev, to
into loke Ontorio killing 011 seven 120 Squodron crew members Woddinglon 2.86, to Abingdon 13.7.87 &scropped 3.90
201 Sq, 203 Sq 1974, St Mowgon 1976, to MR2, Kinloss Wing.
XZ287 23.01.81 2nd conversion to AEW3, rodor dev, to Woddington 10.3.87, to
201 Sq, 120 Sq 1972, Kinloss Wing 1972, to MR2, Kinloss Wing. Abingdon 23.11.88 &scrapped 7.5.92
20 I Sq, 120 Sq 6.71, Kinloss 1972, St Mowgon 1976, to MR2, XW664 07.07.71 To 51 Squodron os R.1 for eleclronic inlelligence golhering,
stored ot Kinloss by 9.92, dismontled &fuseloge 10 Hurn 14.2.97 entered service 10.5.74
for conversion to Nimrod 2000 XW665 30.03.72 To 51 Squodron os R.I
201 Sq, Kinloss Wing 1974, 120 Sq 1976, to MR2, Kinloss Wing. XW666 To 51 Squodron os R.1, enlered service 10.5.74, croshed in sea
201 Sq, St Mowgon 1976 '82, 10 MR2, Kinloss Wing, current 16.5.95 after fire on board.

58
Nimrod
Although later painted in the 'Hemp' colour
scheme shown on the back covel; earry versions
of the Nimrod MR Mk. 2 sported this classic
RAF grry and Ivhite lillelY.

~ .. uS
Length 127 ft. Span 115 ft. 12 crew 547 mph
Rolls-Royce RB 168 Spey (12,140 lb. thrust) x 4 177,500 lb. max. gross take-off weight 12 hours endurance

COMET 4

I!I ~.~ 0

Comet 4C and Nimrod Mk. 2 share the same "airliner-to-sub-hunter"

genealogy as Lockheed's P-3 Orion

Many of the original Nimrods were updated with improved equipment to the Nimrod MR.2 standard
and air defence missiles could be carried on underwing pylons. XV254 is seen in the new hemp cam-
ouflage Finish. (BAe Manchester photo)

59
Cold War Duty
The Nimrod R.l
In addition to the maritime reconnaissance Nimrods, the
R.l was produced for electronic surveillance and the
AEW.3 version was planned to replace the venerable
Shackletons, the piston-engined ultimate development of
the famous wartime Avro Lancaster.
Three Nimrod R. 1s were built for 51 Squadron,
based initially at Wyton, but with the closure of the air-
field, the squadron moved to its current base at
Waddington, Lincolnshire. The aircraft were delivered
from Woodford to Wyton in 1971 and 1972, where the
secret electronic data-gathering equipment was installed,
ready for the Nimrods to become operational on 10
May 1974, replacing the last of the Comet 2Rs. The task
of these rarely-seen aircraft is to determine the frequen-
cies of the potentially hostile radar and communications
systems to allow counter-measures to be developed.
During the Cold War, these aircraft flew close to the Iron
Curtain, gathering data. The third aircraft in the batch
was ditched after take off from Kinloss in May 1995,
and although the aircraft was a total loss, the crew sur-
vived. Nimrod MR.l was flown to Woodford for conver-
sion to the R. 1 standard as a replacement for XW666.
frame conversions by British Aerospace had been com-
pleted satisfactorily to a fixed price contract. The AEW3s
were intended to equip 8 Squadron based at Wadding-
ton, but following the formation of the Joint Trials Unit
(JTU) at Waddington, with the technical problems unre-
solved, the programme was cancelled by Mr George
Younger, Secretary of State for Defence, in December
1986. The Boeing AWACS was ordered instead, and the
Shackletons had to soldier on even longer. ,.
After being stored at Waddington, most of the
Nimrod AEW3s were ferried to Abingdon, with one
going to Kinloss, and another to Finningley, Yorkshire for
engineering training. It was not possible to convert these
airframes back to the MR2 standard, so they were
broken up for spares. The Finningley-based aircraft
remained until the closure of the airfield, and was then
used for engineering development by FR Aviation in the
Nimrod 2000 programme.
The Nimrod AEW3 was launched in March 7977 with an order
for the conversion of eleven MR.2s. Because of difficulties with the
operation of the GEe radar system, the proiect was cancelled in
December 7986. (BAe photo)

The Nimrod AEW:3

The Nimrod AEW.3 was launched with an order for
eleven aircraft on 31 March 1977, the aircraft being
conversions from a batch of the newer low-flying-hour
MR 1s. The most significant change from the earlier type
was the fitting of large radomes on the nose and tail to
house the specially developed GEC radar, which was
intended to cover the forward 180 degrees from the
nose-mounted antenna, and the rear 180 degrees from
the tail mounted unit, the two being phased to provide a
continuous picture.
The first Nimrod AEW.3 conversion, XZ286, was
flown for the first time on 16 July 1980 by Charles Mase-
field, the chief test pilot at Woodford, and the first three
aircraft were allocated to the development of the new
systems, which also included sophisticated communica-
tions equipment to allow effective surveillance through-
out mainland Europe and the surrounding oceans, for the
control of defending combat aircraft.
Unfortunately the GEC radar did not work to specifi-
cation, despite considerable funding, although the air- Three Nimrods were completed as R. 7s for electronic surveillance duties with 57 Squadron, now based at Waddington. (DTEO photo)

60
Nimrod 2000
This illustration is an 'Artist's Concept'
of what the Nimrod 2000 will eJlentualry
look like. Some structural details may
differ from those shown here.

~ .. lEI -

CJ

ANew Nimrod
The next generation Nimrod 2000 was ordered by the British Government on 24 July
1996, for a total of 21 MR2s, to be upgraded to the new standard. Prime contractors
are British Aerospace Military Aircraft at Warton, with FR Aviation at Hurn, near
Bournemouth. British Aerospace will be responsible for the overall design, and for the
production of the entirely new wings, while FR Aviation is responsible for the assembly
of the converted aircraft at Bournemouth Hurn Airport. The new mission systems will be
provided by a consortium of GEC and Boeing, with Racal supplying the Searchwater
2000MR radar. Power will be from four BMW/Rolls-Royce BR710 engines and
amongst other equipment, a new undercarriage will be supplied.

First Conversions
The first conversions were from three Nimrods stored at Kinloss, which had the wings
cut off close to the roots and were loaded in Antonov An-124 freighters and flown to
Hurn in February 1997. The load was too long to go by road. Subsequent conversions
will be flown into Hurn direct, and the first is due for delivery to the RAF in 2003. This
programme will take the basic Comet design well into the ~ext century and will proba-
bly serve to complete between 70 and 80 years total service of an aircraft series that
achieved almost dynastic stature in aviation history.

61
The Legacy
Fifty Years On remarkable team of intuitive engineers and aerodynami- contrast, was in a class of its own. There was nothing
As the millenium year 2000 approaches, the fact that the cists, working under Bishop's leadership, synthesized a remotely like it.
Comet first took to the air at the end of the first half of the pool of knowledge and wisdom that collectively broke As related on page 20, de Havilland's enterprise
20th Century gives food for thought. On the historic day, through the barriers of conventional aeronautical dogma. was matched by the faith and support of the British state-
27 June 1949, air transport itself had existed for only 35 In four short years, this group of innovative men made a owned airline, B.O.A.C., led by Sir Miles Thomas. The
years, since the 17-mile flight in Florida of the flimsy giant's step forward, drawing from a de Havilland her- doubters who had predicted a rough future for a fuel-
Benoist f10atplane of the SI. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat itage of courageous experiment that was unprecendented guzzling prototype were proved wrong. The critics were
Line on the first day of 1914. Sustained airline operation anywhere in the world of aeronautical engineering at that shamed. Not only did the Comet prove its performance;
in Europe, U.S.A., South America, and Australia had time. That the Comet made its first flight as early as 27 it proved that jet operations were commercially feasible,
only begun in 1919. June 1949 was little short of miraculous. because the fuel was cheaper than gasoline, and most
So air transport as an industry had existed for only important, the maintenance costs, leading also to aircraft
three decades when the Comet took to the air. Previous The Bequest longevity, were incredibly low.
generations of airliners had progressed from the "stick-and- The Comet's debut took the press, the public, and the The de Havilland company, as manufacturers and
string" infancy, through plywood-and-fabric adolescence, politicians-not to mention rival manufacturers-by sur- innovators, together with B.O.A.C., as the world's jet
to metallic construction, and to stressed-skin and mono- prise and by storm. This was not the first occasion when airliner test-bed, revolutionized air transport, launching
coque technology. Piston engines had increased in power a new airliner had demonstrated such an outstanding it into a new era that bore no resemblance to that which
from 50 horse power to 3,000. But the post-Second World advance over previous types. The Douglas DC-3 had had gone before. And it all started back in 1943, when
War years could easily have all but stagnated because of changed the world of airlines in 1936, by making a gleam in the aging c.c. Walker's eye sparked off a
technical barriers to increased performance. money; the Lockheed Constellation brought cabin pres- train of collective inspiration that ultimately created the
sure and high altitude flying, together with trans-Atlantic Jet Age.
Post-War Skepticism range, in 1946; but the Comet was different. This book has tried to pay homage to those inspired
While jet engines had emerged from the genius of Hans The previous stars of airliner development were, for men who, more than half a century ago, first dreamed,
von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle, working independently several years, simply the best of a number of candidates then designed and built and flew the Comet. This, the
of each other. By the mid-1940s, however, few aviation for pride of place. The famous Douglas DC-3, or the Lock- world's first jet airliner, will still, as the Nimrod, carry
project engineers or designers thought seriously about heed Constellation, were good examples. The Comet, in their standard well into the twenty-first century.
putting them to work as power-plants for commercial air-
liners. The insatiable appetite of fuel seemed to rule out
any chance of efficient or economical airline operations.
Comet
, Nimrod
Srs 1 Srs 1A Srs 2 Srs 3 Srs 4 Srs 4B Srs 4C MR.l AE'N3
Only at the Avro facility in Canada and at de Havilland No built 11 10 17 1 29 lB 2B 49 II
at Hatfield were hearts and minds directed towards the 5pon ft/m 115/35 115/35 115/35 114.B/35 114.B/35 107.B/32.BB I14.B/35 114.B/35 115.1/35.0B
seemingly impossible dream. length h/m 93.1/2B.35 93.1/28.35 96.1129.3 111.5/33.99 111.5/33.99 11B/35.97 II B/35.97 I26.75/3B.63 137.67/41.97
Even so, there were grave doubts. The distinguished Height tt/m 2B.5/B.65 2B.5/B.65 2B.5/B.65 29.5/B.99 29.5/B99 29.5/B.99 29.5/B.99 29.67/9.0B 35/10.67
technical adviser to the far-sighted Brabazon Committee Wing Areo
(page 9) was sceptical. Richard Clarkson, de Havilland's sq him 2,105/1 B7.2 2,105/1B7.2 2,027/1 BB.3 2,121/197 2,121/197 2,059/191.3 2,121/197 2,121/197 2,121/197
AUW Ib/kg 105k/45,540 115k/49,B77 120k/52,046 145k/62,BB9 162k/73,4B3 15Bk/71,670 162k/73,4B3 177.5k/BO,510 177.5k/BO,510
visionary technical director in charge of aerodyamics
Cruise speed
(and master of the King's English and the succinct mpb/kpb 490/790 490/790 490/790 500/B05 503/Bl0 532/B56 503/Bl0 547/BBO 547/BBO
phrase) observed: "We studied Roxbee-Cox's findings Cruise bt him 35,000/ 40,000/ 40,000/ 40,000/ 42,000/ 23,500/ 39,000/ 42,000/ 42,000/
with gloomy concurrence." 10,667 12,190 12,190 12,190 12,BOO 7,162 11,BB6 12,BOO 12,BOO
Mox ronge
The de Havilland Spirit m/km 1,500/2,400 1,750/2,BOO 2,535/4,000 2,700/4,320 3,225/5,190 I,B40/2,961 2,590/4,16B 12 brs 10 brs
Gloom there might have 5een; but after Clarkson had No of pox 36 44 44 7B BI 101 101 12 + 45 4+6
accompanied Ron Bishop to Germany immediately after Engines Ghost Ghost Avon Avon Avon Avon Avon RBI6B RBI6B
50 Mkl 50 Mkl 117 502 524 524 525B 5pey Mk250 Ipey Mk250
the hostilities ended in 1945, and discovered the magic
Tbrustlb/kN 4,450/19.B 5,000/22.25 7,300/32.47 10,000/44.4B 10,500/46.7 10,500/46.7 10,500/46.7 12,140/54 12,140/54
potential of the swept wing, the doubts were cast aside. A B,900/40,450 10,730/4B,7BO
Fuel gol/ll 6,000/27,5B5 6,906/31,750 6,906/31,750 B,360/3B,435 B,900/40,450 7,BOO/35,459 10,730/4B,7BO

62
D.H. Dynasty
The First Cornet 1
Night Shift at Hatfield in the
Spring of 1949

The Last Cornet

Canopus on experimental
duties during the 1990s

The Descendant
Nimrod on patrol over
the High Seas

63
Index
Note: P = Photograph; M = Map; T = Tabu/alion
(Fleet List); C = Chan or Diagram; Mac/ull = Mike
Macha! prec;;!J'iol/ drawing.
Aerolineas Argentinas, opcnltes Comet 4, 40,
Machat 40, 40P, 40M, 40T
Air Ceylon, leases Comet 45 from B.O.A.C., 53
Air France
Comet lA, Machal, 25P, 25M, 2ST
Orders Comet 2, 35
Air India, orders Comet 3. 35
Antonov An-124, freighter, carries Nimrod
fuselages, 61
AREA (Ecuador), operates Comet 4, 53, 53?, 53T
Avro Lancastrian, tests Ghost engines, 13, 13P
B.E.A. (British European Airways)
Operates Comet 4B, 4445, Machat 45, 45P,
44M,44T
H.E.A. Airtours, operates Comet 485, 53. 53P, 53T
Beaumont, Chris. tests Ghosi-Lancastrian, 13
Bishop, Ronald, de Havilland Chief Designer
Discusses prospects in 1943, 10
Visits Germany, tours aircraft factories, II
Heads D.H.I06 Cornet 106 design team, 12, 12P
Insists on full power conlrols, 13
Keeps unusual model on desk, 17
Pictured with HRH The Queen Mother, 22P
BLEU (Blind Landing Experimental Unit)
Comet 4 delivery, 36
B.O.A.C. (British Overseas Aircraft Corporntion)
[nauguratcs world's first jet airline service, 20,
20P, 20M
Cornet 1, neet list, Machat, 21
~lorld's first jet airline network, 22, 22M, 22P
Orders Comet 2, 33, 32-33P, 33T, 35
Orders Comet 3, 35
Orders Comet 4, 36
Operates Comet 4s, 38-39, Machat39, 39T, 42M
Boeing 314 Clipper, rules 1930 skies, 8
Boeing 707
Developed, 31
First tlighl and Pan Am service, 38
Compared to Comet 4, Machat 38
Brabazon Committee, established 1942, makes rec-
ommendations for post-war commercial aircraft, 9
Brabazon of Tara, Lord, chairs Brabazon
Committee, 9
Bristol Britannia, post-war British airliner, 9P
British Aerospace, de Havilland Nimrod produclion,
58,60-61
Burke, Sir Aubrey, 16P
Caliendi, Charles, Comet design team, 12P
Campbell-Orde, Alan, BOAC procuremelll director, 6
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Orders Comet IAs, 26P, 26T
Orders Comet 2, 35
COIJOpUS
Last of the Comets, 56-57, Machat 57, 57P, 62P
Capital Airlines. orders Comet 4A, 35, Machat 35
Channel Airways. operates Cornel 4Bs, 53, 53P. 53T
Chargeurs Reunis, backs U.A.T., 23
Civil Aeronautics Authority (C.A.A,)(U.S.), refuses
Comet cenification. 25
Clarkson, Richard, d~
Havilland Chief Aerodynamicist
Discusses prospects in 1943, 10
Visits Germany, tours aircraft factories, I I
Brief biography 12, 12P
Expresses gloom over jel airliner prospects. 62
'Conrod; Royal Air Force Comel!Nimrod, 56P
Cunningham, John,
Contribules Foreword, 6, 6P
Tests Ghost Lancaslrian. 13
Camel I firsl nighl, 17, 17P
Talks to HRH The Queen i\'lother, 22P
Comel2 first night, 32
Comet 3 first flight. 36
Takes Comet 3 around the world in 1955,37
Last operational Comet flight (C{//IOPIIS), 57
Dan-Air
Openltes Comet 4s, 413s, and 4Cs, 54-55,
Machats 55, SSP, 54T
Operates lasl commercial Comet Oight, 54
De Havillaad D.HA, 1914-1918 Great War light
bomber, 10
De Havilland D.H. 88 Comet, wins England-Aus-
tralia Air Race. 1934. 12
De Havilland D.H. 91 Albatross, trans-Atlantic
design, 8, 14P
De Havilland D.H. 98 Mosquito. light bomber, 10,
14P
De Havilland D.H. 100 Vampire, 10, 14P
De Havilland D.H. 104 Dove, post-war general pur-
pose airliner, 9P
De Havilland D.H. 106 Comet
Early study, JOC
Advanced engineering, 15, 15P, 63P
Wing torlure test, 15P
Cornel I in-flighl photographs, 16,24,26,28
Comet 1 rollout, first flight, 27 July 1949, 17,
17P,I8P
Four-wheel bogie landing gear, diagram, 18
Test night prognlmme, 18
Compact cockpit, t 8P
Comet I prototype~ listed, 18T
Significance of high speed, reviewed, 19, 19C
Dmmatic speed demonstration, 25 October 1949,
19,I9M
Inaugurates world's tirstjet airline service, 20,
20P, 20M
Engine and airframe mainlainance economies, 20
Comparison wilh Douglas DC-7, Machat 21 C
Calcutta crash, 28, 29P
Elba crash and investigation, 28-31, 28M, 29-
31P
Siromboli crash, 28, 28M
Certificate of Airworthiness withdrawn, 28
Water tank test, 30P
Mctal fatigue analysed, 29-31, 29-3IP
Comet 2, first flight, 32
Comel 2 developmenl, 35
Comel 3 developmenl, 36, 36P, 37M
Cornel 4A, ordered by Capital Airlines, 34, Machal
34
Announces Comet 4, 36
Comct 38 (48), first nigh" 36
Comet 4 immgurates Atlantic service, 38, 38P
Comet 4 and Boeing 707 compared, Machal 38C
Comets I and 4 compared, Machat 39C
Last Comet 4C operation into Heathrow, 49
World's first executive jet (Saudi), 50
Last commercial Comet flight, 54
Comel 4C and Nimrod compared, Machat 59C
Type specifications tabulated, 62
The Legacy, 62
Comet lIlA operators
B.O.A.C., 2022
VAT,,23
Air France, 25
South African Airways, 26P
Canadian Pacific Airlines (ordered). 26P
Royal Canadian Air Force, 26, 27M
Comet 2 operators
B.O.A.C (ordered), 32-33, 33T
B.C.P.A. (Brilish Commonweahh Pacific Airlines)
(ordered),32
Royal Air Force. 27. Machal 27. 34P. 34M. 3..lT
Comet 4 operators
B,O,A,C" 38-39
Aerolineas Argentinas, 40
E.A.A.C. (East African), 43
Ml:llaysian Airw::lys, 52
AREA (Ecuador), 53
Air Ceylon. 53
Dan-Air, 54-55
Comet 4B operators
B.E.A,,44-45
Olympic Airways, 44-45
Channcl Airways, S3
B.E.A. Airlours, 53
Dan-Air, 54-55
Comet 4C operators
Mexic'lna,41
Aerolineas Guest. 41
U.A.A. (United Arab Airlines), 47
M,E.A. (Middle East Airlincs), 48
Sudan Airways, 49
Saudi Arabian Airlines, 50
Kuwait Airways, 51
Dan-Air, 54-55
Comet C4 operator
Royal Air Force, 56
De Havilland D.H. 108 Swallow, tail-less research
aircraft
Pictured with Comet, lOP
Crashes on test flight, II, I [P
De Havilland Engine Company, formation, 16
De Havilland, Sir Geoffrey
Head of D.H. organization, weekly meetings, 10,
lOP
Talks 10 HRH The Queen Mother. 22P
Dc Havilland, Gcoffrey,lr.
Celebrales Mosquito lest-flight, 10
Tests D.H. 108, crashes, II, I IP
De Havilland Ghost engine
TeSl run and installation on Lancaster, 13, 13P
Development hislOry, 16, 16P
De Havilland Goblin engine, development, 16, 16P
De Havilland Nimrod
AEW.3, early development, 57, 60P
AEW.3, conversion from MR.l series, 60
MR.lIMR.2, service life, 58, Machat 59, 58P,
59P,63P
Complete Nimrod fleet list, 58T
Comet 4C and Nimrod compared, Machat 59C
R.I, 60, 60P
De Havilland I imrod 2000, 61, 1achat 61, 61P
De Havilland Sprite rocket engine, experiments, 18?
Douglas DC-3, changes world airline prospecls, 62
Douglas DCA, ordered by U.S. airlines, 1940,8
Douglas DC-7, compared with Comet 1, Machat21C
Douglas DC-8, development, 31
E.A.A.C. (East African Airways Corporation)
Operates Comet 4s, 43, Machat 43, 43P, 43M,
43T
Ecuadorian airline (AREA) operates Comel 4, 53.
53P,53T
Eg)'ptair, operates Comet 4C, 47, 47. 'I, 47P, 47'1'
Fairbrother. Tony,
Comet I first night, 6,17, 17P
Fairey FC- I, pre-war British airliner design, 8. 8P
Farman 2200 Centaure, on South Atlantic route, 8
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, record fli2:ht, 8
Ford Tri-Motor. performance, I9 ~ Cancels Comet 3, 35
General Aircrart G.A.L. 40, pre-war British airliner
design, 8
Gibbins. George, DH leSI pilot, 6
Guest, Aerolfineas, operates Comet 4C. 41 P. ~I M
Hagg, Arthur
D.H. 91 Albatross designer. 8
Hands over design responsibilities 10 Ron Bishop, 12
Halford, Frank, Major, De Havilland jel engine
specialist
Discusses prospecls in 1943, 10
Produces firsl praclical commercial jet engine, 13
Brier review of career and engine designs, 16, 16P
Pictured with HRH The Queen Mother, 22P
Hall, Professor (later Sir) Arnold, invcstigates
Comet crashes, 29-31
Harper. Bob, Comel design team, 12P
Herrod-Hempsall, Maurice. Comet design team, 121'
Horsa glider, lests Comel windscreen. 13. 131'
Hughes, Howard, sponsors Lockheed
Constellation, 8
Hutchinson, Reg, Comet design leam, 12P
Ibn Saud, King, operates Comet 4C. 50
lA.L. (Japan), orders Comet 2, 35
Kuwait Airways
Operates Comet 4C, 51, Machat 51, 51P, 51M,
51T
L.A. V. (Venezuela), orders Comel 2, 35
Latecoere, builds lrans-Atlanlic flying boat, 8
Lockheed Constellation
Produclion, 8
Performance, 19
Introduces pressurization, 62
Malaysian Airways
Operates Comet 4, 52, Machat 52, 52P, 52M,
52T
Margaret, Princess, pictured with Comel 1,221'
Masefield, Charles, lesl pilot for Nimrod AEW.3, 60
M.E.A. (Middle East Airlines)
Operates Comet 4C, 48, Machat 48, 48P, 48M,
48T
Mexicana (C.M.A.) operates Comet 4C, 41,
Machat 41, 41P, 41M, 41T
Miles X-I, British pre-war airliner design, 8, 8P
Ministry of Defence (M.O.D.), Cornel 4 equipment
development, 56, 56T
Ministry of Supply
Comet 1 prototype, 18T
Comet 2 prototype, 32T
Comet 3 ordered, 35, 35T
Misrair
Operates Comet 4C, 47, 47M, 47T
Moult, Dr., 16P
Newman, David
Delermines MosquilO performance, 10
Comet design team, 12P
Brief biography, performance specialist, 14, 141'
Nimrod-see de Havilland Nimrod
Nixon, Wilfred, de Havilland Treasllrer
Discusses prospects in 1943, 10
Pictured with HRH The Qucen Mother, 22P
Olympic Airways
Operates Comet 4B, 46, Machat 46, 46P, 45M,
46T
O.N.A. (Overseas 'mional Airways). negotiates for
Comels.25
Pan American Airways
Orders Douglas DC-4s, [940, 8
Orders Comet 3, 22, Machat 37
Boeing 707 service, 38
Panair do Brasil, orders Comel 2, 35
Peters, Alan, Comet design team, 12P
Pavey, Harry, manages Comel produclion. 15. 151'
Queen Mother. HRH The, pictured with Comet team.
22P
Ramsden, lVlike
"'lakes keynote address at Halfield. 1989.7
Reviews Comet achievements. 13
Memories uf Experimemal Shop, 17
Redux bonding, 15, ISP
Reynolds, Frank. Comet first flight. hydraulics, 6
Comet [first flight, 17, 17P
Robinson, "Robbie," develops Comet
pressurization, 13
Rolls-Royce engines
Avon, powers Comet 2, 32, 32P, 35
Avon, powers Canberra, Valiant, Hunter, Caravelle
aircrafl. 32
Derwent, powers Gloster Meteor, 32
Nene, powers Hawker. Supcrmarine aircraft, 32
Ro)'al Air Force
Comet 2, 27, 34,lVIachal 27, 27P, 34M, 341'
Comet C4, 56, S6T, 56P
Royal Aircraft Establishment, investigates Comet
crashes, 29-31
Royal Canadian Air Force, buys Comet IAs, 26P,
26T, Machat 27
Royal Navy, salvages Elba Comet, 29
SI. Pelersburg-Tampa Airboalline, world's first air-
line service, 62
Salisbury, Lady, pictured with Comet I, 22P
Saudia Arabian Airlines
Operates Comet 4C, 50, Machat 50, SOP, 50M,
50T
Sharpe, Martin, dignified promotion slandards, 17
Shon S.23 nyiag boa', 1930<, 8
Short S.32 (14/38), pre-war British airliner
design, 8, 8P
South African Airways, operates Comet, 26P
Sudan Airways
Operates Comet 4C, 49, Machat 49, 49M, 49P,
49T
Tamblin, Bill
Comet design lcam, 12P
Brief biography, designs Comel wing, 14, 14P
Thomas, Sir Miles, B.O.A.C. Chairman,
Pictured with Comet I, 22P
B.O.A.c. Leadership, 62
Times, The, correspondent, takes offense, 17
Torry, Alec, Comet design team, 12P
Truck chassis, tests Comet nose wheel undercarriage,
13,13P
Tucker, Guy, DH test pilol, 6
T.W.A., sponsors Lockheed Conslellalion, 8
V,A,A, (Vnitcd Arab Airlines)
Operates Comet 4C, 47, Machat 47, 47P, 47M,
47T
V.A.T. (Union Aeromaritime de Transport)
Comet lA, Machat, 23P, 23M, 23'1'
Orders Comet 2, 35
United States C.A.A., refuses Comet certification, 25
Vickcrs Viscount, post-war British airliner, 9P
Vickers VC-I O. B.O.A.C Service, 38
Von Ohain, Hans. invents jel engine. 62
Walker, CC
De Havilland chief engineer. makes prediclion. 10.
62
Walker. John, Comel design lcam, 12P, 14P
Waters, Tubby, Comet first night. electrics, 6
Watts, Freddy, Comet design team, 12P
Whittle, Sir Frank, invents jet engine, 62
Wilkins, Tim. Comet design team, 12P
Wilson, John,
Comet I first night. 6, 17, 17P
\Vimpenny, John
Comel design lcam, 12P
Brief biography, stability and control specialist. It
i4P
Younger, Georg'e. Defence Secrelary, cancels Nimrod
AEIV.3.60